"jatise  on  insanity, 
G.   Griires 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


V 
f  I 


If 


A   SECRET   WORTH    KNOWING. 


A  TREATISE 


ON 


INSANITY 


THE  ONLY  WORK  OF  THE  KIND- IN  THE  UNITED  STATES; 


OR,    PERHAPS 


IN   THE  KNOWN   WORLD 


FOUNDED    ON 


GENERAL  OBSERVATION  AND  TRUTH. 


There  are  other  Medical  books  which  treat  on  Insanity,  but  comparatively  few  to 
the  population,  and  none  written  by  an  Insane  man.  This  contains  a  short  History 
of  the  Author's  case — giving  the  General  Causes  which  produced  the  Disease  on  him 
individually,  Manner  of  Treatment  and  Termination.  Giving  the  only  Treatment  by 
which  a  Cure  may  fce  effected,  the  Manner  of  Detecting  the  Disease,  arid  the  Duties 
of  Sane  Parents  towards  the  Insane  offspring  of  their  bodies;  with  some  General 
Remarks  upon  Idiotism,  the  Jurisprudence  of  Insanity,  Suicide,  &c. 


BY    G.    GRIMES., 
Sin  inmate  of   tfje  SLunatic  i3s»lum  of   ^Tennessee. 


THIRD  EDITION. 


NEW  YORK: 
WILLIAM  H.  GRAHAM,  TRIBUNE  BUILDINGS. 

1847. 


DISTRICT  COURT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
FOR  MIDDLE  TENNESSEE  DISTRICT. 

BE  it  remembered  that,  in  conformity  to  an  Act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America,  entitled 
"An  act  to  amend  the  several  acts  respecting  Copy -rights,"  on  the  23d  of  June,  1845,  and  in  the  69th  year  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States,  GREEN  GRIMES,  of  said  District,  hath  deposited  in  this  office  the 
title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  proprietor,  and  which  is  aa  follows,  to  wit  •  "A  Secret 
Worth  Knowing — A  Treatise  on  Insanity ;  giving  the  General  Causes,  Treatment  to  effect  a  Cure,  Ju- 
risprudence of  Insanity,  Suicide,"  &c..  &c.  JACOB  M'GAVOCK, 

Clerk  of  said  Court 


LUNATIC  ASYLUM,  NASHVILLE,  Tenn.,  / 
17 tk  May.  1845,      $ 

This  is  to  certify  that  Mr.  G.  GRIMES  is  now  an  inmate  of  this  Institution,  and  has 
been  since  June,  1842  ;  that  since  he  has  been  here  ho  has  written  a  book  styled 
"A  Secret  Worth  Knowing — A  Treatise  an  Insanity,"  and  other  subjects  therein 
contained ;  and  that  his  condition  is  as  represented  in  said  book.  We  furthermore 
certify  that  it  was  written  in  the  officers'  room  of  said  Institution,  and  that  the  manu- 
script is  original,  from  undar  his  own  hand  and  pen. 
Given  under  our  hands  the  day  and  date  above  written. 

JNO.  S.  M'NAIRY, 

Practising  Physician  of  the  Lunatic  Aylum. 
CHARLES  HARRISON, 

An  Officer  of  the  Asylum. 
DAVID  R.  DANIEL, 

Agent  of  the  Asylum. 
GEORGE    W.  MURPHEY, 

An  Officer  of  the  Asylum. 

R.  C.  K.   MARTIN,  ^ 
JNO.   M.   HILL.          [    „ 
JNO.    D.   KKLLEY.    [ 

j.  r.  v/.  PKOWN.  j 


PREFACE. 


IN  laying  this  work  before  the  public,  I  have  but  two  motives  in 
view,  one  of  which  is  to  enlighten  the  people  on  what  I  conceive  to 
be  one  of  the  most  important  subjects  in  the  world,  especially  to  the 
young  and  rising  generation,  and  those  and  the  friends  of  those 
who  now  are,  or  may  become,  mentally  diseased,  and  which  I  con- 
ceive to  be  a  duty  due  them  from  me. 

I  have  written  it  upon  a  pure  conviction,  believing  that  it  will  be 
a  good  family  guide  for  parents,  guardians  and  young  students  of 
medicine,  and,  in  fact,  I  will  venture  to  say,  that  any  reader  will  be 
able  to  receive  good  advice  from  it. 

The  minister  of  the  Gospel  would  doubtless  contend  that  the 
ministry  was  the  most  important  subject  in  the  world.  The  editor 
of  a  public  press  would  contend  with  the  minister  that  the  editorial 
department,  and  the  freedom  of  the  press,  was  a  subject  of  much 
greater  importance.  The  financier  would,  perhaps,  equally  contend 
with  the  minister  and  the  editor  that  the  subject  of  finance  was  of 
still  more  importance.  The  merchant  would  contend  that  the 
mercantile  business  was  also  a  very  important  subject.  The  lawyer 
would  also  contend  that  the  practice  of  law  was  a  subject  of  great 
importance.  The  mechanic,  perhaps,  might  say  that  the  subject  of 
mechanism  was  one  of  vast  importance,  and  the  farmer,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  would  equally  contend  with  all,  that  agriculture  was  a 
subject  of  still  much  greater  importance,  as  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
are  requisite  to  sustain  life. 


VI  PREFACE. 

I  might  extend  inferences  through  the  different  and  variegated 
pursuits  of  life,  and  I  am  free  to  allow  every  one  the  liberty  of 
exercising  their  various  opinions  upon  the  importance  of  the  leading 
subjects  of  the  day ;  but,  in  the  meantime,  I  hope  they  will  be  equally 
free  to  extend  towards  me  the  liberty  of  contending  with  all,  that 
I  believe  the  subject  of  insanity  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  importance 
in  the  world  ;  arid  it  is  a  point  given  up  by  all  men,  with  few  excep- 
tions, that  the  discovery  of  the  healing  arts,  and  more  especially 
that  of  detecting  and  healing  the  awful  malady  termed  insanity,  is 
the  most  important,  and  should  stand  number  one  among  all  other 
subjects. 

In  the  first  place,  that  I  may  be  able  to  throw  all  the  light  that 
I  am  in  possession  of,  I  shall  be  compelled  to  give  a  short  detail  of 
my  own  case,  and  in  doing  this  I  will  have  to  make  use  of  initials 
in  lieu  of  individual  names  to  unfold  it,  to  which  I  hope  no  person 
will  take  exception,  as  it  is  not  my  design  to  personate  or  try  to 
blast  the  prospects  of  any  lady  or  gentleman,  but  desire  that  the 
book,  upon  its  own  merits,  shall  rise  or  sink. 

The  other  motive  that  I  have  held  in  view  is,  to  enable  me  to 
raise  some  small  means,  by  which  I  may  be  able  to  reasonably  feed, 
clothe  and  educate  my  children.  Relative  to  the  plausibility  of  the 
motives,  I  leave  the  reader  to  judge. 

In  giving  you  a  statement  of  my  own  case,  I  will  have  to  com- 
mence at  quite  an  early  period  of  my  life  ;  I  will  even  begin  at  my 
birth.  Some  persons  may  object  to  be  governed  by  this  book  upon 
the  ground  that  it  is  written  by  an  insane  man  ;  but  for  that  very 
reason  they  should  not  hesitate  to  be  governed  by  it,  as  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  a  man  who  is  diseased,  knows  more  about  that 
particular  disease  than  one  who  is  not. 

1  have  been  credibly  informed  that  it  is  rumored  in  some  parts 
of  the  country  that  I  have  compiled  this  work  for  the  benefit  of 
some  other  individuals,  and  that  the  manuscript  is  not  my  own 
production.  In  contradiction  of  this  report,  I  can  safely  assert  that 
no  man  on  earth  has  any  interest  in  it  or  the  proceeds,  except  to 


PREFACE.  m 

receive  the  usual  pay  for  services  in  the  publication,  and  to  agents 
for  vending,  etc. ;  and  as  to  its  not  being  original,  I  give  a  certificate, 
on  a  preceding  page,  from  the  practising  physician,  officers  and 
trustees  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum,  from  under  their  own  hands,  signed 
officially,  who  are  knowing  to  the  facts,  which  certificate  is  sufficient 
to  convince  any  rational  mind  that  the  rumor  is  utterly  false. 


The  following  editorial  notice  appeared  in  the  Baltimore  Patriot 
of  the  4th  of  November,  1846. 

"A  TRKATISE  ON  INSANITY,  &c. — The  author,  Mr.  G.  Grimes,  who  for  a  number 
of  years,  was  an  inmate  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum  in  Tennessee,  and  who  has  fortunately 
been  cured  of  his  malady,  placed  in  our  hands  a  volume  of  nearly  one  hundred 
pages,  written  upon  the  subject  of  insanity.  Having  experienced  all  the  ills  and 
horrors  incident  to  a  derangement  of  the  mental  faculties,  he  has  therefore  been 
enabled  to  write  practically,  and  develope  many  mysteries,  heretofore  unknown,  as 
regards  insanity.  The  book  before  us  is  full  of  interest,  and  well  worthy  a  perusal. 
The  author  was  once  a  successful  merchant  in  the  West,  and  is  known  by  gentlemen 
of  this  city  with  whom  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  dealing.  He  bears  visible  marks 
on  each  side  of  his  neck  of  an  attempt  at  suicide  in  his  period  of  derangement." 


THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 


THE  writer  was  born  in  Orange  county,  State  of  North  Carolina, 
on  the  12th  of  February,  1809.  My  father  emigrated  to  Maury 
county,  Tennessee,  in  the  fall  or  winter  of  1811,  at  which  time  I 
was  about  two  years  old.  He  was  one  among  the  first  settlers  in 
that  part  of  Tennessee  :  he  was  not  rich,  neither  was  he  poor,  but  in 
ordinary  circumstances ;  he  was  well  enough  off  to  live  free  of 
embarrassment.  He  purchased  one  quarter-section  of  land,  lying 
twelve  miles  south-west  of  Columbia,  on  the  waters  of  Big  Bigby, 
and  within  one  mile  of  the  town  of  Mount  Pleasant,  then  a  cane-brake 
in  the  wild,  howling  wilderness,  and  inhabited  by  red  men  and  the 
wild  beast  of  the  forest.  1  was  the  youngest  son  of  eleven  in 
succession,  two  of  whom  died  young  ;  I  had  two  sisters,  who  were 
the  first  and  second  born.  It  was  my  misfortune  to  be  bereaved  of 
my  maternal  parent  at  twelve  years  of  age  ;  I  was  then  loved  by  all 
who  knew  me ;  my  sisters  and  elder  brothers  were  all  grown  to  be 
men  and  women,  and  were  becoming  incumbent  with  the  cares  of 
the  world  and  their  families,  except  one,  the  next  youngest  brother 
to  me  that  was  then  living.  He,  as  a  matter  of  course,  was  my 
favorite  brother,  as  we  were  the  only  two  left  at  home,  and  were  play 
and  school-fellows. 

When  I  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  my  father,  as  is  usual 
with  most  men,  married  a  second  wife,  and  brought  my  brother  and 
myself  a  step-mother,  who,  in  about  a  year  afterwards,  drove  my 
brother  from  my  embraces  to  seek  a  home  among  strangers.  He 

bargained  to  live  with  a  Parson  S ,  then  a  stationed  preacher 

and  teacher  of  the  Cherokee,  Chickasaw,  or  Choctaw  Indians — I  do 
not  remember  which — and  on  his  way  to  the  Agency,  in  crossing 
Bear  Creek,  twelve  miles  west  of  Colbert's  Ferry,  on  Tennessee  river, 
he  came  to  a  premature  death  by  drowning.  I  hope  his  spirit  has 
taken  its  heavenly  flight;  I  loved  him  well,  for  he  had  always 
acted  the  part  of  a  brother  towards  me.  I  loved  him  as  dearly  as 
I  did  my  own  life.  There  are  brothers  in  the  flesh,  and  there  are 
brothers  indeed — he  was  my  brother  indeed.  Hence  upon  this  loss 
I  became  partially  insane ;  the  disease  assumed  the  character  of 
moral  insanity — melancholy  depression. 

9 


10  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

In  a  short  time  afterwards  my  clothes  were  thrown  out  of  my 
own  father's  house,  and  I  driven  from  his  mansion  and  embraces  to 
seek  a  home  among  strangers  before  I  was  of  an  age  sufficient  to 
act  for  myself.  I  never  would  have  left  his  fireside  if  I  had  not  been 
driven  from  it  by  one. who  should  have  looked  upon  me  with  a 
mother's  eye,  and  assisted  in  properly  raising  me.  But!  was  driven 
from  the  mansion  of  those  whose  duty  it  was  at  that  time  to 
protect  me. 

I  went  to  my  eldest  brother  for  advice  and  protection  ;  he  was  the 
eldest  and  I  the  youngest.  Who  should  a  boy  go  to  for  advice  but  a 
brother  ?  He  refused  me  advice — telling  me  that  I  was  a  worthless 
fool,  and  ordered  me  off  to  take  care  of  myself,  stating  that  he  did 
not  care  what  became  of  me.  I  then  went  to  another  brother  and 
made  the  same  application,  and  expressed  a  desire  to  make  his  house 
my  home.  I  met  with  the  same  refusal,  but  not  in  the  same  abrupt 
language.  This  brother  promised  me  that  if  I  became  incapable  of 
taking  care  of  myself  at  any  time  in  the  course  of  my  life,  he  would 
act  in  the  capacity  of  a  father  towards  me  instead  of  a  brother ;  but 
my  great  misfortune  was  that  he  never  complied  with  that  promise 
until  it  was  forever  too  late.  I  became  weary  of  seeking  a  home 
among  brothers — hence  I  was  at  a  loss  to  know  what  course  to 
pursue,  having  thus  been  driven  from  the  embraces  of  those  whom 
I  loved  above  all  others.  However,  being  possessed  of  enterprise 
and  an  energetic  spirit,  I  concluded  in  my  own  mind  to  become  a 
mechanic;  so  I  set  about  learning  the  trade  of  a  dresser  and  builder 
of  stone,  which  I  followed,  together  with  farming  on  a  small  scale, 
for  something  like  seven  years.  In  justice  to  my  father,  I  must  here 
say,  that  in  the  division  of  his  property  he  gave  me  an  equal  portion 
with  my  other  brothers,  or  perhaps  more  than  some  of  them.  But 
my  advice  to  him  then  was  to  keep  his  property  in  his  own  hands 
and  take  care  of  his  insane  son.  My  portion  yielded  me  some  five 
hundred  dollars,  the  principal  part  of  which  1  expended  in  trying 
to  have  myself  healed  the  best  way  I  knew  how. 

At  about  sixteen  years  of  age  I  had  become  convicted  of  sin,  and 
convinced  of  the  necessity  of  an  interest  in  the  atonement  of  a 
crucified  Redeemer.  I  attended  the  first  camp-meeting  ever  held 
at  English's  camp-ground,  near  Shilo  meeting  house,  in  Maury 
county.  I  became  awfully  convicted  during  the  three  o'clock  ser- 
mon, on  a  Sunday  evening.  It  was  a  remarkable  circumstance, 
and  if  it  will  not  be  an  intrusion  upon  the  reader  I  will  give  a  short 
and  comprehensive  account  of  my  conviction  and  conversion,  as  I 
conceive  that  the  subject  of  religion  was  one  of  the  subjects  that 
produced  fanaticism. 

Five  other  young  persons  and  myself  went  to  the  spring  to  get 
some  cooling  refreshment  that  flows  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth. 
While  at  the  spring  a  friend  and  acquaintance  of  mine  made  a 
profession  of  religion  in  the  woods  and  came  to  his  tent  shouting. 
Some  one  of  the  company  inquired  what  caused  the  noise.  I 


CAUSE    AND  TREATMENT.  11 

wickedly  replied  that  I  supposed  another  dog  had  professed  religion. 
We  walked  up  to  his  tent,  when  he  took  me  *y  the  hand  and 
exclaimed:  "Young  man,  without  religion  you  are  forever  lost!" 
I  saw  a  perceptible  change  in  his  countenance  and  expression  from 
what  was  usual  with  him.  It  struck  my  heart  with  terror,  and  I 
turned  and  walked  across  the  camp-ground  to  a  brother's  tent.  I 
thought  every  step  I  made  would  be  the  "last ;  it  seemed  as  if  the 
ground  would  open  and  swallow  me  up ;  everything  looked  dull 
and  dreary ;  the  way  of  life  to  me  seemed  to  be  hedged  up  and 
impassable.  I,  however,  made  out  to  get  to  the  tent,  and,  like  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  fell  flat  on  my  face  upon  the  ground.  I  lay  for  a  while 
in  this  position,  then  turned  upon  my  back.  Every  sin  •  that  is 
usual  for  boys  to  run  into,  and  that  I  had  been  guilty  of,  came  across 
my  mind  and  bore  me  to  the  earth  as  with  the  burthen  of  a  heavy 
yoke.  I  thought  I  was  on  the  brink  of  an  awful  precipice,  ready  to 
plunge  into  irrecoverable  woe  at  the  touch  of  the  brittle  thread  of 
life.  I  lay  in  this  condition  for  the  space  of  three  or  four  hours,  and 
I  could  not  have  got  upon  my  feet  to  have  saved  my  life.  All  at 
once,  as  quick  as  thought,  this  heavy  load  of  sin  and  guilt  was 
removed,  and  I,  lifted  up  by  a  higher  power  than  man,  placed  upon 
my  feet.  A  brilliant  light  shone  in  my  soul,  and  my  first  exclama- 
tion was,  "  Glory  be  to  him  that  ruleth  on  high  !"  Every  thing 
wore  a  different  aspect — the  people  looked  lovely,  and  I  thought 
even  the  trees  of  the  forest  were  making  their  obeisance  to  the 
Creator  of  the  world.  Things  I  once  loved  I  now  hated,  and  things 
I  once  hated  I  now  loved :  in  short,  I  loved  every  body  and  every- 
thing but  sin,  and  above  all  I  loved  Him  who  had  so  mercifully 
pardoned  my  sins,  and  given  me  this  foretaste  of  Heaven.  The 
change  was  just  as  perceptible  to  me  as  the  ink  on  this  parchment 
now  is  to  the  reader.  I  saw  with  the  eye  of  faith,  not  with  the 
natural  eye,  the  image  of  the  Son  of  God  clothed  in  a  white  robe, 
with  the  injunction,  "Follow  thou  me,  and  I  will  make  thee  a 
fisher  of  men."  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  I  heard  these  words 
spoken  with  my  natural  ears,  but  these  impressions  were  at  that 
time  made  on  my  mind.  A  new  song  was  put  into  my  mouth — 
even  praises  to  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world. 

I  love  to  see  the  glowing  sun 

Light  up  the  deep  blue  sky, 
Along  the  pleasant  fields  to  run, 

And  hear  the  brooks  flow  by. 

How  fresh  and  green  the  trees  appear ; 

What  blooming  flowers  I  find : 
O,  surely  God  hath  placed  them  here 

To  tell  us  he  is  kind. 

To  Jesus  let  all  children  come, 

For  he  hath  said  they  may ; 
His  bosom  then  will  be  their  home, 

Their  tears  He'll  wipe  away. 


12  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

The  beasts  that  on  the  herbage  browse 

All  thank  him  different  ways, 
And  little  birds  upon  the  boughs 

Sing  sweetly  to  his  praise. 

Shall  I  alone  forget  to  thank 

The  God  who  made  us  all  ? 
I'll  kneel  upon  this  mossy  bank 

And  on  my  Maker  call 

Though  I  am  but  a  little  boy, 

Yet  I  to  God  belong ; 
His  works  are  full  of  love  and  joy, 

And  He  will  hear  my  song. 

If  such  a  change  as  the  one  above  alluded  to  be  religion,  I  once 
had  it.  Some  of  my  readers  might  come  to  the  conclusion  that  if  I 
ever  had  religion  I  have  it  yet.  I  will  give  my  views  more  fully  in 
the  latter  part  of  my  book  on  this  subject,  under  the  head  of  "  The 
Possibility  of  Apostacy."  All  the  men  in  the  world  cannot  convince 
me,  upon  mature  reflection  of  the  matter,  (since  my  mind  has  been 
a  little  more  composed  than  it  was  in  1842,)  but  what  I  was  once  a 
converted  man  of  God.  I  know  all  about  religion,  still  I  fear  I  know 
nothing  about  how  I  lost  sight  of  this  good  spirit.  God  only  knows 
—I  can't  tell.  However,  I  was  taught  to  believe  in  the  impossibility 
of  Apostacy,  which  I  conceive  to  be  a  dangerous  doctrine  to  preach 
to  a  young  convert.  It  is  best  to  encourage  them  to  prove  faithful 
until  death,  that  they  may  receive  a  crown  of  life. 

At  about  seventeen  years  of  age  I  became  anxious  to  connect  my- 
self with  a  religious  family.  Having  been  driven  from  the  embraces 
of  my  own  relatives,  I  thought  it  advisable  to  form  a  connexion  with 
religious  people  that  I  might  receive  religious  instruction.  Hence  I 
married  the  daughter  of  an  old  minister  of  the  Gospel,  hoping  to  re- 
ceive the  advice  of  a  father  both  temporally  and  spiritually,  which  I 
did  receive  at  his  hands  for  a  few  years ;  but  when  I  became  more 
insane  (the  disease  assuming  the  character  of  monomania,  originat- 
ing from  moral  insanity  in  the  latter  part  of  1832,  at  which  time  I 
was  living  on  Cathey's  creek,  in  Maury  County,  and  about  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,)  he  unfortunately  took  the  wrong  view  of  my 
condition,  and  began  to  cease  giving  me  parental  advice,  and  com- 
menced abuse,  turning  his  kind  treatment  into  evil  treatment,  which 
made  me  sink  into  a  further  state  of  despondency.  During  the  seven 
years  above  alluded  to,  and  within  about  two  years  after  I  was 
married,  I  was  violently  attacked  with  bilious  or  nervous  fever.  I 
sent  for  a  physician  within  twenty-four  hours.  His  course  of  treat- 
ment was  to  take  one  quart  of  blood  from  the  arm,  give  a  severe 
emetic,  sixty  grains  of  calomel,  and  twelve  calomel  pills,  all  in  the 
space  of  thirty  hours,  which  was  sufficient  to  kill  a  man  in  health. — 
From  that  attack  I  never  fully  recovered,  though  I  have  no  doubt 
the  physician  prescribed  the  course  that  he  thought  the  most  advi- 
sable. It  perhaps  would  not  be  amiss  to  remark  here  that  two 


CAUSE    AND   TREATMENT.  13 

years  out  of  the  seven  I  lived  the  life  of  an  overseer,  or  manager  of  a 

plantation,  for  a  Judge  K ,  then  residing  in  Maury  County.     I 

found  in  him  a  gentleman,  but  my  employment  an  unpleasant  busi- 
ness. During  all  this  time  I  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  and  a  part  of  the  time  a  class-leader — living  in  the 
enjoyment  of  religion  and  in  the  favor  of  God. 

Isaac  was  ransomed  while  he  lay 

Upon  the  altar  bound ; 
Moses,  an  infant,  cast  away, 

Pharaoh's  own  daughter  found. 

Joseph,  by  his  false  brethren  sold, 

God  raised  above  them  all ; 
To  Hannah's  child  the  Lord  foretold 

How  Eli's  house  should  fall. 

David  the  lordly  lion  slew, 

And  o'er  Gath's  champion  trod ; 
Josiah  from  his  boyhood  knew 

His  father  David's  God. 

Children  are  thus  Jehovah's  care, 

Thus  youth  may  seek  his  face, 
Since  his  own  Son  he  did  not  spare — 

With  him  he  gives  all  grace. 

Grace,  like  the  young  of  whom  we  read, 

In  him  to  put  our  trust, 
(       Who  proves  in  every  time  of  need 
As  merciful  as  just. 

Lord,  while  like  them  our  course  we  run, 

Be  our  Almighty  friend, 
And  in  the  footsteps  of  thy  Son, 

Conduct  my  readers  to  the  end. 

Would  no  Pharaoh's  daughter  or  Joseph's  brethren  wear  the 
laurels  of  finding  me  when  a  boy  ? 

We  will  again  return  to  temporal  matters.  I  defy  man  to  pro- 
duce one  dollar  of  an  unpaid  debt  that  I  contracted  during  this 
seven  years  of  my  life.  I  worked  hard,  day  in  and  day  out,  and 
though  I  was  not  growing  rich,  I  was  living  comfortably  and  doing 
well  enough,  had  I  have  had  sense  enough  to  have  known  it.  I 
would  advise  all  young  men  to  remain  in  the  occupation  to  which 
they  are  brought  up. 

The  reader  will  understand  that  I  was  laboring  under  moral 
insanity  and  monomania  during  these  seven  years.  George  Wash 
ington,  the  Father  of  his  country  and  first  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Constitution,  and  Thomas 
Jefferson,  the  third  President  of  the  United  States,  and  the  framer 
of  the  Constitution,  positively  declared  that  no  man  should  be  pun- 
ished for  any  crime  he  might  commit  when  in  a  state  of  insanity. 
They  furthermore  declared  that  the  insane  shall  be  reasonably 
fed,  clothed  and  furnished  with  medical  aid  at  the  expense  of  their 


14  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

respective  States.  This  one  clause  was  sufficient  of  itself  to  have 
immortalized  those  two  noble  spirits.  Would  to  God  their  successors 
in  office  had  followed  in  their  footsteps,  and  carried  out  the  principles 
of  their  illustrious  predecessors. 

At  the  end  of  these  seven  years  above  alluded  to,  I  had  a  suffi- 
ciency of  household  and  kitchen  furniture  to  live  comfortably,  a  few 
hundred  dollars  in  cash,  and  cash  claims  on  solvent  men,  that  I  had 
earned  by  my  trade,  and  my  stock  consisted  of  four  head  of  young 
horses,  about  fifty  to  sixty  head  of  stock  hogs ;  a  small  stock  of 
cattle,  principally  milch  cows,  a  small  stock  of  sheep,  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  barrels  of  corn,  with  other  provender,  plenty  of 
poultry,  etc.,  and  a  good  trade  which  I  was  master  of,  and  was 
indebted  about  fifty  dollars.  On  this  I  had  a  wife  and  three  small 
children  to  support. 

I  had  a  friend  X ,  then  living  in  the  town  of  Mt. ,  in 

the  State  of  T ,  who  was  raised  behind  a  merchant's  counter, 

and  then  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  with  a  Mr.  B.  My 

friend  X had  been,  so  far  as  I  knew,  a  warm  friend  of  mine 

from  our  first  acquaintance  in  boyhood.  I  was  his  true  friend  at  the 
time,  and  thought  him  to  be  mine,  though  I  sometimes  had  fears  of 
his  friendship.  He  proposed  to  me  to  sell  all  the  property  I  could 
spare  and  vest  the  proceeds  in  a  small  stock  of  goods,  and  open  a 
business  at  some  country  stand  that  I  might  select — telling  me  that 
it  was  the  only  business  and  the  only  road  that  led  to  fortune  and 
fame.  Allured  by  the  hope  of  wealth,  and  charmed  by  the  voice  of 
fame,  and  he  representing  himself  to  be  solvent,  (though  he  was 
insolvent,  but  kept  his  condition  concealed  from  me,)  and  promising 
that  I  should  share  equally  and  to  give  me  all  the  advice  requisite 
to  facilitate  business,  I  finally  consented,  and  sold  all  the  property  I 
had  except  my  household  and  kitchen  furniture,  one  horse  and 
some  milch  cows.  He  thus  led  me  from  a  trade  that  I  was  brought 
up  to  and  a  master  of,  into  one  that  soon  became  master  of  me,  and 
induced  me  to  sell  things  that  were  real  and  invest  the  proceeds  in 
things  that  were  not  real ;  he  made  me  rich  in  one  night  on  paper 
by  his  extravagant  calculations,  and  made  everything  look  very 
pleasing.  Consequently  we  purchased  a  small  stock  of  dry  goods 
and  groceries,  amounting  to  about  fifteen  hundred  or  two  thousand 
dollars.  I  took  them  to  Swan  Creek,  in  Hickman  county,  and 
opened  business  in  the  name  of  my  friend  and  myself.  He  did  not 
advance  one  dollar  as  capital  in  the  concern.  1  sold  by  retail  on 
credit  and  some  for  cash,  and  for  the  first  two  and  a  half  years  I 
did  well — my  balance  sheet  showing  a  nett  profit  of  about  five 
thousand  dollars.  I  replenished  our  stock  quarterly  at  Nashville. 
During  this  time  new  banks  were  springing  up  everywhere,  and 
money  was  quite  plenty.  At  about  the  expiration  of  this  time  my 
friend  X—  -  purchased  his  friend  B.'s  stock  of  goods  and  property 
for  himself  and  me.  He  was  so  much  pleased  with  my  course  in 
business  that  he  made  the  purchase  without  my  knowledge  or  con- 


CAUSE    AND   TREATMENT.  15 

sent,  having  had  no  previous  understanding  with  me  on  the  subject 
of  the  trade,  which  was  contrary  to  my  wish.  By  this  time  the  old 
concern  of  himself  and  friend  B.  had  become  in  quite  an  embar- 
rassed condition;  and  in  my  absence,  without  having  said  one  single 
word  to  me  on  the  subject,  he  drew  bills  on  a  commission  house  in 
New  Orleans  to  the  amount  of  some  six  or  eight  thousand  dollars 
(I  never  could  ascertain  the  precise  amount,  as  I  had  no  way  to  find 
out  only  through  him,  and  he  would  not  tell  me)  in  the  name  of 
the  new  concern,  and  used  the  proceeds  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  old. 
He  purchased  cotton  at  a  high  price  to  meet  said  bills,  upon  the  sale 
of  which  cotton  we  sustained  a  loss  of  four  thousand  dollars,  which 
brought  the  new  concern  into  an  embarrassed  condition  with  the 
old.  I  was  not  well  pleased  with  this  treatment,  nor  with  the  idea 
that  what  I  had  accumulated  in  the  two  and  a  half  years  should  be 
thus  swept  from  me  by  the  intrigues  of  a  man  who  professed  to  be 
my  best  friend.  It  caused  my  confidence  to  be  further  shaken  in 
him,  and  I  therefore  proposed  that  we  would  dissolve  partnership, 
that  I  might  return  to  a  farm  and  my  trade.  But  he  boasted  that 
he  had  me  under  his  thumb — just  where  he  wanted  me,  and  there  he 
intended  to  keep  me.  In  the  meantime,  he  had  promised  faithfully 
that  if  I  should  become-  mentally  deranged  at  any  time  during  the 
existence  of  our  partnership,  he  would  see  to  my  proper  treatment 
until  I  recovered.  He  professed  to  have  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
disease,  and  wished  for  a  violent  case,  that  he  might  show  the 
people  how  he  could  effect  a  cure.  I  was  laboring  under  this  awful 
malady  at  that  very  moment,  and  repeatedly  asked  his  opinion, 
candidly,  in  regard  to  my  case — expressing  my  opinion  that  I  was  a 
fit  subject  for  the  Lunatic  Asylum  at  Nashville.  He  made  light  of 
my  fears  of  insanity,  and  said  that  the  institution  at  Nashville  was 
not  intended  for  people  of  my  class — that  I  would  not  be  received 
there,  and  that  it  was  designed  only  for  the  rich  and  great  of  the 
land.  He  said  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  in  placing  me  there, 
and  was  glad  no  one  else  would.  He  wished  to  keep  me  at  home, 
that  he  might  cheat,  defraud  and  abuse  me.  He  thus  compelled  me 
to  do  the  hardships  and  drudgery  of  the  concern  for  ten  years,  and 
I  a  dying  man  !  These  circumstances  caused  the  disease  to  change 
its  form  from  moral  insanity  and  monomania  to  mania  or  raving 
madness,  accompanied  with  epilepsy,  about  the  time  or  soon  after 
he  drew  those  bills  on  New  Orleans.  The  banks  in  parts  of  the 
United  States  began  to  suspend  specie  payments,  and  the  moneyed 
concerns  of  the  country  became  dull  and  dreary.  I  made  fine  col- 
lections during  these  two  and  a  half  years,  and  in  the  meantime, 
during  the  winter  season,  bought  live  pork  of  my  customers  and 
sent  it  to  Alabama,  which  yielded  a  small  profit.  My  friend  X — 
received  through  rny  hands  twenty  thousand  dollars,  more  or  less, 
and  how  he  applied  it  he  and  his  God  only  knows — I  cannot  tell. 
He  would  draw  instruments  of  writing,  or  bonds,  and  read  them 
over  to  me,  affirming  that  they  were  just  as  he  read  them,  and  the 


16 


THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 


gentleman  in  whose  favor  they  were  drawn  was  in  a  great  hurry 
— that  it  was  unnecessary  for  me  to  read  them,  but  to  sign  them 
quick — saying  that  he  would  take  no  advantage  of  me,  etc. 
When,  however,  these  writings  were  presented  for  liquidation,  they 
turned  out  to  be  entirely  different  to  what  they  were  at  first  repre- 
,ented. 

I  made  some  improvements  during  this  time,  and  from  the  one 
store  grew  a  little  village  styled  Palestine,  which  was  in  a  prosper- 
ous condition.  This  brought  me  up  to  the  spring  of  1835,  when  I 
visited  Philadelphia,  by  the  way  of  Wheeling  and  Baltimore,  for 
the  purpose  of  replenishing  our  stock  of  goods.  In  the  meantime 
I*had  become  partially  deaf,  originating,  I  suppose,  from  the  attack 
of  bilious  or  nervous  fever  before  alluded  to.  At  times  I  could 
hear  as  well  as  any  man — then  again  it  would  be  that  I  could  not 
hear  more  than  every  third  or  fourth  word,  and  would  have  to 
guess  at  the  balance.  For  six  weeks,  at  one  time  in  my  life,  I 
could  not  hear  it  thunder.  Then  again  my  hearing  would  return. 
What  would  the  reader  say  of  a  man  who  would  seek  advantage 
of  another  while  in  this  condition  ?  God  commands  us  to  do  unto 
others  as  we  would  have  others  do  unto  us.  Thus  I  was  first  cheated 
out  of  my  property  and  money,  and  then  defrauded  out  of  the 
privileges  of  a  free  but  insane  citizen,  guaranteed  to  me  by  the  laws 
of  my  country. 

I  remained  at  this  town  of  Palestine  for  three  years  longer, 
struggling  hard  to  recover  the  loss  sustained  upon  the  cotton  pur- 
chased by  Mr.  X ,  all  of  which  time  he  was  leading  an  unfor- 
tunate brother  of  mine  (who  was,  like  myself,  laboring  under 
insanity)  into  endorsement  after  endorsement,  and  one  eternal  bond- 
age after  bondage,  endeavoring  to  repair  the  old  concern  with  the 
means  and  upon  the  credit  of  my  brother  and  myself.  My  brothel 
was  not  to  blame  for  my  misfortune  nor  I  for  his,  for  we  were  both 
dethroned  of  mental  powers.  I  would  not  ask  him  to  endorse  for 
us,  neither  would  I  ask  any  other  person,  except  in  a  very  few 
instances,  for  I  knew  there  was  danger.  I  am  told  now  'that  Mr. 
X—  -  is  circulating  a  report  that  I  was  the  cause  of  his  embarrass- 
ment. After  the  above  statement,  I  leave  the  reader  to  determine 
who  produced  the  insolvency — the  party  that  was  solvent  at  the 
time  the  partnership  and  endorsements  were  entered  into,  or  the 
party  that  was  insolvent.  My  brother  and  myself  were  solvent, 

and  X and  his  brother  were  insolvent — which  brother  of  his 

led  me,  in  the  meantime,  into  an  endorsement  with  him  upon  an 
administration  bond  of  ten  thousand  dollars,  upon  which  endorse- 
ment my  credit  sunk  twenty-five  per  cent,  in  one  month  right  at 
home.  But  the  bond  was  signed  and  filed  in  the  clerk's  office,  and 
it  was  then  too  late  to  recall  it.  They  professed  to  be  my  warm 
friends,  but  were  my  secret  enemies — my  life  was  at  stake  every 
hour,  and  instead  of  assisting  me  in  time  of  need,  they  were  running 
about  the  streets  and  through  the  neighborhood  hunting  up  and 


CAUSE    AND    TREATMENT.  17 

circulating  evil  reports  against  me,  and  seeking  every  advantage 
of  me  in  their  power. 

During  the  last  three  years  I  did  business  in  Palestine,  I  found  an 
increase  in  the  sale  of  goods,  but  a  decline  in  collections  that  did 
not  count  well.  I  became  weary  of  the  business  and  sold  out  the 
property  and  stock  of  goods  to  one  of  my  former  clerks  and  a  neigh- 
boring mechanic.  The  sale  amounted  to  about  five  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars,  and  I,  maniac-like,  placed  the  bonds  in  the  hands 
of  Mr.  X—  — ,  besides  sending  him,  for  the  previous  three  years, 
by  his  spies  and  runners,  all  the  money  I  could  collect,  say  about 
fifteen  thousand  dollars,  more  or  less.  I  placed  the  books  and  notes 
on  our  customers  in  the  hands  of  our  successors  in  business  togethqf 
with  a  former  clerk,  to  act  as  my  agents  in  the  collection  of  the 
money  due  us  at  that  place,  which  was  at  that  time  between  twelve 
and  fifteen  thousand  dollars — determined  in  my  own  mind  to  return 
to  a  farm  and  aid  personally  in  winding  up  the  concern. 

This  brought  me  up  to  the  first  of  January,  1838.  In  a  few  days 
after  this  I  was  persuaded  by  this  man  X—  — ,  my  partner  in  busi- 
ness, to  visit  the  town  of  Carrollville,  Wayne  county,  Tennessee, 
and  purchase  a  half  acre  lot  and  appurtenances,  together  with  a 
stock  of  dry  goods,  which  purchase  I  made  at  his  strong  solicitation, 
amounting  in  all  to  about  eight  thousand  dollars,  and  opened  a  new 
business  in  the  name  of  Mr.  X —  —  and  myself.  I  visited  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  for  the  purpose  of  replenishing  our  stock  of  goods, 
while  my  partner  was  at  home  shaving  off  notes,  drawing  bills  and 
getting  our  own  paper  discounted  in  bank,  receiving  all  the  money 
collecting  at  Palestine,  leading  the  honest  yeomanry  of  the  country 
into  endorsement  after  endorsement,  and  driving  me  through  thick 
and  thin,  wet  and  dry,  heat  and  cold.  We  ordered  a  stock  of  goods 
from  New- York  in  the  spring  of  1838,  for  both  houses,  fifty -five  miles 
apart.  In  addition  to  this,  I  received  a  lot  of  groceries  from  New- 
Orleans  on  consignment,  consisting  of  two  hundred  sacks  of  coffee 
and  a  small  lot  of  sugar,  and  was  supplied  with  salt  on  consignment 
during  my  stay  in  business  there.  In  addition  to  this  I  replenished 
our  stock  of  dry  goods  occasionally  from  Louisville,  by  orders,  and 
groceries  from  New-Orleans.  I  remained  in  business  there  two 
years,  and -during  the  time  the  sales  for  groceries  and  salt  on  con- 
signment amounted  to  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  cash,  and  the 
same  amount  for  dry  goods,  more  or  less — not  recollecting  the  pre- 
cise amount — all  this  time  sending  groceries  to  supply  my  partner's 
store,  and  remitting  him  all  the  money  I  received  for  sales  and  col- 
lections, amounting  to  the  amount  of  the  sales,  except  what  I  paid 
over  for  salt  and  groceries  on  consignment,  and  even  sent  him  a 
large  portion  of  that  money.  He  kept  up  his  spies  and  runners  all 
the  time  to  receive  money  and  prevent  me  from  running  away.  I 
can  inform  the  gentleman  that  I  never  run  away  except  in  imagin- 
atien — I  run  beside  myself,  as  a  great  many  other  men  have  done. 
He  never  sent  to  me  for  money  but  what  1  sent  him  all  I  had — re- 

2 


18  •  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

serving1  only  a  few  dollars  to  buy  provisions  to  sustain  life.  I  sent 
him  two  thousand  dollars  at  one  time,  and  three  thousand  in  a  few 
days  afterwards  was  counted  out  to  him  by  the  writer,  with  a  faith- 
ful pledge  that  he  would  replace  the  whole  five  thousand  at  any 
time  when  called  for.  I  sent  for  it  in  the  space  of  two  or  three 
months  afterwards,  and  also  sent  a  one  thousand  dollar  bank  note 
by  the  clerk  to  be  changed.  I  was  under  a  hard  press  for  the  money 
at  the  time,  but  instead  of  sending  me  the  five  thousand  dollars,  he 
used  two  hundred  out  of  the  thousand  dollar  bill,  and  sent  the  clerk 
back  with  eight  hundred  dollars.  When  lie  would  get  all  the  money 
I  had  he  would  abuse  me  for  not  having  more — still  drawing  bills 
«and  buying  cotton  to  meet  said  bills,  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  old  con- 
cern. I  was  taken  suddenly  sick  in  the  fall  of  the  last  year — two 
doctors  were  called  in  and  Mr.  X—  -  sent  for.  My  family  were 
sick  also.  My  disease  was  pronounced  congestive  fever,  but  they 
never  thought  of  crying  out  insanity — the  doctors  either  forgot  that 
word  or  had  never  learned  it,  and  they  poured  enough  calomel  into 
my  system  to  have  killed  a  horse.  They  treated  the  case  as  a  com- 
mon fever — no  protective  measures  were  adopted  either  by  my  friends 
or  physicians — at  least  if  there  were  I  never  could  discover  it,  and  I 
watched  with  the  eye  of  an  eagle  to  see  if  any  of  them  would  make 
one  bare  effort  at  any  time  in  my  life  beyond  that  of  an  ordinary 
sane  man.  Such  effort  was  never  made  until  I  arrived  at  my  pre- 
sent condition.  Mr.  X —  -  remained  all  night  and  part  of  next 
day,  administering  upon  my  estate,  and  I  a  dying  maniac.  I  noticed 
in  his  administration  that  he  was  smart  enough  to  carry  all  the 
money  off  with  him.  It  is  best  not  to  administer  upon  a  man's  es- 
tate while  dying— you  perhaps  might  shorten  his  days  by  it.  A 
man  likes  to  see  his  friends  when  he  is  sick,  and  he  also  likes  for 
them  to  take  care  of  him  until  he  is  well.  One  of  the  doctors  went 
off  in  a  few  days,  pronouncing  me  a  dying  man,  and  the  other  said 
I  was  getting  well.  I  finally  recovered  partially  from  my  sickness, 
as  did  my  family  also — none  of  us  quite  died  that  season,  but  came 
very  near  it.  My  life  was  in  the  hands  of  my  God,  but  every  thing 
else  I  had  was  in  possession  of  my  friends 'and  physicians.  In  jus- 
tice to  the  two  young  men  in  my  employ  as  clerks,  I  believe  they 
did  the  best  they  could  under  the  circumstances. 

The  reader  will  perceive  that  Mr.  X received,  through  my 

hands,  from  first  to  last,  in  cash,  cash  claims,  and  groceries,  up- 
wards of  one  hundred  thousand  dollars.  At  the  end  of  this  two 
years  I  determined  in  my  own  mind  to  sell  out  at  Carrollville  and 
wind  up  the  dreadful  machine.  I  accordingly  sold  out  to  a  neigh- 
boring mercantile  firm,  and  the  sale  of  the  lot  and  improvements 
thereon,  together  with  the  remaining  stock  of  goods,  amounted  to 
about  eight  thousand  dollars.  I  sent  Mr.  X—  -  the  bonds  received 
on  said  sale.  He  certainly  should  have  grown  very  rich  byj,his 
time.  I  purchased  a  small  farm  about  five  miles  from  town,  and 
moved  my  family  out  to  it  for  health  during  the  next  summer. 


CAUSE    AND    TREATMENT.  19 

which  brought  me  up  to  1840.  The  bosom  companion  of  my  youth, 
and  whom  I  loved  above  all  others,  was  taken  from  me  by  the  God 
who  gave  her,  together  with  my  youngest  daughter.  In  the  mean 

time  Mr.  X was  getting  out  writs  to  have  me  tried  for  my  life ; 

for  what  reason  he  did  not  know,  nor  do  I  believe  he  cared — at  the 
same  time  professing  to  be  a  friend  to  the  insane.  I  would  still  cite 
him  to  the  Lunatic  Asylum,  telling  him  that  I  was  a  fit  subject  for 
it.  He  had  it  in  his  power  to  walk  across  a  camp-ground  and  save 
my  life,  but  would  not  do  it. 


But  his  friend  for  nought  he  could  abuse ; 
When  aid  was  asked  he  would  refuse  ; 
Nor  would  he  give  a  cooling  drink 
To  save  a  friend  from  death's  dark  brink. 

How  holds  the  chain  which  friendship  wove  T 
It  broke — and  soon  the  hearts  it  bound 

Were  widely  sundered,  and  for  peace 
Envy,  and  strife,  and  blood,  were  found. 

The  merriest  laugh  which  then  was  heard 
Has  changed  its  tone  to  maniac  screams, 

As  half  quenched  memory  kindles  up 

Glimm'rings  of  guilt  and  feverish  dreams. 

And  where  is  she  whose  diamond  eyes 
Golconda's  purest  gems  outshone, 

Whose  roseate  lips  of  Eden  breathed ; 
Say  where  is  she,  the  beauteous  one  ? 

Beneath  yon  willow's  drooping  shade, 
With  eyes  now  dim  and  lips  all  pale, 

She  sleeps  in  peace — read  on  her  urn, 
A  broken  heart — this  tells  her  tale. 

And  where  is  he,  that  tower  of  strength 
Whose  fate  with  hers  for  life  was  joined  ? 

How  beats  his  heart,  once  honor's  throne — 
How  high  has  soared  his  daring  mind 

Go  to  the  Asylum's  room  to-night ; 

His  wasted  form,  his  aching  head, 
And  all  that  now  remains  of  him 

Lies  shuddering  on  a  maniac's  bed. 

Ask  you  of  all  these  woes  the  cause  ? 

The  festal  board — the  enticing  bowl 
Too  often  came,  and  reason  fled, 

And  maddened  passions  spurned  control. 

Learn  wisdom  then — the  frequent  feast 
Avoid,  for  there  with  stealthy  tread 

Temptation  walks  to  lure  you  on, 

Till  Death  at  last  his  banquet  spreads. 

Then  shun,  O  shun  the  enchanted  bowl 
Though  now  its  draught  like  joy  appears, 

Ere  long  it  will  be  fanned  by  sighs, 
And  sadly  mixed  with  blood  and  tears 


20  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

When  I  came  to  get  into  the  whole  secret  of  the  matter,  Mr. 
X —  -  had  led  me  into  his  financial  concerns  in  bank,  to  the 
amount  of  about  forty-five  thousand  dollars,  and  about  thirty 
thousand  dollars  to  wholesale  merchants  and  farmers,  and  bound 
me  as  endorser  with  him  on  broken  paper  for  about  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  more — making  in  all,  at  the  end  of  the  ten  years 
in  which  he  was  to  make  me  rich,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars — a  nice  way  of  making  a  man  rich.  The  banks 
took  from  me,  under  the  hammer,  a  house  and  lot  worth  two  thou- 
sand dollars  at  two  hundred,  by  what  they  called  a  kind  of  lien. 
This  is  a  specimen  of  their  course  with  most  of  my  real  estate  and 
cash  claims,  up  to  the  time  I  was  brought  here:  What  they  have 
done  since  I  do  not  know,  but  they  treated  me  like  a  stranger  be- 
fore. I  thought  they  would  have  had  some  conscience  in  my  case, 
as  I  was  not  personally  the  financier  nor  the  borrower  of  their 
money.  If  they  are  disposed  to  act  justly,  they  will  yet  give  me 
credit  for  all  the  real  estate  and  cash  claims  deposited  with  them 
at  a  fair  price,  for  when  property  changes  owners  it  should  change 
at  fair  value.  If  the  reader  is  out  of  bank  I  would  advise  him  to 
stay  out. 

As  I  have  touched  upon  the  subject  of  religion,  the  reader  might 
pause  for  a  moment  and  say,  "  You  are  not  in  principle  a  Baptist, 
and  you  are  not  a  Presbyterian— pray  tell  what  you  are."  I  am 
nearer  a  Methodist  in  principle  than  any  thing  else.  If  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  would  use  but  one  mode  of  baptism,  and  that  by 
immersion,  as  was  immersed  the  son  of  God  by  John  in  the  river 
Jordan,  and  wash  one  another's  feet,  as  did  he  and  his  disciples,  and 
receive  no  member  into  their  churches  without  an  experimental 
knowledge  of  a  change  of  heart  from  nature  to  grace.  With  these 
three  amendments  to  their  present  discipline,  and  if  the  balance 
of  the  orthodox  churches  would  concentrate  upon  this  one  church, 
the  religious  part  of  the  community  would  be  nearer  to  the  footsteps 
of  Him  who  came  to  save  you  than  any  people  since  the  days  of  the 
Apostles.  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.  We  will  here  give 
you  a  metaphor:  Suppose  your  friend  dies — what  would  be  your 
course  of  interment  ?  Would  you  not  dig  a  grave,  make  a  coffin, 
and  place  in  it  the  corpse  and  lower  it  into  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
and  fill  up  the  grave?  Or  would  you  place  them  on  their  knees, 
and  sprinkle  or  pour  a  small  portion  of  dirt  on  their  heads?  Just 
so  with  baptism.  When  you  would  baptize  a  living  soul,  would 
you  not  bury  them  in  the  water  and  let  the  waves  close  over 
them  ?  Then  you  may  say  with  truth  that  a  soul  has  been  buried  in 
baptism,  but  in  sprinkling  and  pouring  you  cannot  say  that.  Philip 
and  the  Eunuch  both  went  down  into  the  water,  and  he  baptized 
him.  What  did  they  both  go  down  into  the  water  for,  if  he  was 
not  baptized  by  immersion  ?  "  You  must  be  buried  with  me  in 
baptism,"  saith  He  who  came  to  save  you.  Still,  baptism  is 
not  the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of 


CAUSE    AND   TREATMENT.  21 

a  good  conscience.  If  you  should  think  my  views  to  be  scat- 
tering, just  bring  them  in  one  grand  chain  and  you  can  make 
them  link. 

The  writer  of  this  does  not  claim  to  have  ever  fought  for  his 
country ;  but  he  has  seen  the  day  he  would  have  done  so  had  it 
been  necessary.  I  had  one  brother  that  fought  in  the  Creek  war 
and  lived  on  raw-hides,  and  another  who  served  under  the  illustri- 
ous Jackson  at  the  battle  of  New-Orleans.  I  was  then  quite  a  small 
boy.  but  I  would  have  marched  out  with  as  much  zeal  as  any  boy 
in  the  nation,  and,  had  it  been  necessary,  would  have  scaled  the  walls 
of  a  fort,  torn  down  the  batteries  and  thundered  grape-shot  into  the 
very  mouths  of  the  enemy.  But  if  the  reader  will  remember,  there 
was  no  call  to  fight  for  this  country  from  the  time  I  was  fifteen  years 
of  age  up  to  the  date  of  1832 — between  those  two  dates  I  held  my- 
self ready.  At  about  eighteen  years  of  age  I  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  adjutant-major  of  a  regiment  of  Tennessee  militia,  and  in 
1832  I  became  a  candidate  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the 
resignation  of  the  colonel ;  but  some  who  had  professed  to  be  my 
best  friends  (and  some  of  them  my  relations)  proved  false  and  cast 
their  votes  for  a  man  who  had  never  held  office  in  the  regiment,  and 
thus  defeated  me.  I  therefore  felt  under  no  obligations  to  fight  for 
these  pretended  friends,  but  thought  if  he  was  their  man  at  home 
he  might  fight  their  battles  abroad.  If  his  father  fought  for  his 
country,  so  did  my  brothers — so  we  were  equal  on  that  score. 

But,  says  the  reader,  you  have  got  to  fighting  battles.  Pray  tell 
us  how  you  would  fight  a  battle  ?  I  would  fight  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, and  that  would  be  to  whip  the  enemy  ;  and  if  I  had  the  com- 
mand of  a  battle  I  would  make  a  bold  rush  upon  the  weak  point, 
fire  off  my  small  arms  first,  keep  them  in  hot  play,  and  not  let  them 
rest  one  moment.  I  would  keep  my  'eyes  skinned,  and  hold  back 
the  big  guns  in  reserve  until  I  saw  the  main  body  of  the  army 
heave  in  view.  Thus  the  enemy  might  suppose  I  had  no  artillery, 
and  I  would  take  them  by  surprise.  Hold  on  to  the  big  gun,  boys, 
— if  you  let  the  enemy  get  possession  of  it  you  are  gone.  If  I  had 
possession  of  a  fort  I  would  keep  it  as  long  as  I  had  a  man  or 
a  weapon  to  fight  with  ;  and  if  the  enemy  had  possession,  I  would 
take  the  fort  as  if  by  thunder  storm,  with  cannon  balls  and  grape- 
shot  ;  and  if  I  was  fighting  a  swamp  fight  I  would  fight  upon  the 
plan  of  Gen.  Francis  Marion.  Read  his  life,  and  you  will  learn  how 
Jasper  and  Newton  released  the  prisoners.  Some  time  in  1840  I 
started  to  move  to  an  adjoining  county  from  the  one  I  then  lived  in. 
A  doctor  who  held  a  balance  of  a  note  on  me,  for  which  I  was 
bound  as  security,  and  of  which  I  had  paid  about  two-thirds,  and 
was  making  arrangements  to  pay  the  balance,  (upwards  of  two  hun- 
dred dollars)  when  he  had  me  arrested  with  a  writ  of  capias  ad 
respondendum,  for  the  purpose  of  having  my  body  imprisoned,  when, 
strictly  speaking,  I  might  have  bwu  considered  his  insane  patient. 
He  was  one  of  the  doctors  called  in  when  I  took  sick  at  Carrollville. 


22  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

This  was  a  nice  way  to  heal  insanity.  I  took  out  a  damage  writ 
for  him,  and  when  brought  before  the  court  a  judgment  was  render- 
ed against  me  for  the  cost  of  the  damage  suit,  which  was  erroneous, 
and  perhaps  prejudicial — though  it  was  not  the  first  erroneous  judg- 
ment rendered  against  me  by  a  few.  During  this  year  and  in  1841 
I  gave  up  all  my  property  and  means  into  the  hands  of  my  friends 

who  were  bound  for  me  and  Mr.  X ,  to  be  sold  by  the  officers, 

or  to  be  disposed  of  as  they  might  think  proper.  How  much  is  yet 
unpaid  I  cannot  tell,  but  if  they  have  and  will  keep  their  accounts 
straight,  and  give  all  just  credits  at  a  fair  rate,  they  may  yet  see  the 
day  that  they  may  get  the  principal  part  or  all  of  their  money — es- 
pecially those  who  have  lost  by  endorsements,  or  loaned  me  money 
at  lawful  interest — and  what  money  they  do  receive  shall  be  applied 
by  a  pro  rata  distribution,  without  regard  to  size  or  men,  if  they 
don't  get  to  serving  garnishments  and  injure  the  sale  of  this  work. — 
Those  who  have  taken  the  benefit  of  the  bankrupt  law  will  of  course 
not  expect  to  receive  any  thing. 

During  this  time  my  unfortunate  brother,  who  had  borne  a  libe- 
ral part  of  my  difficulties  for  ten  years,  came  to  his  death.  This 
bereavement  sunk  me  into  a  still  further  state  of  insanity.  May 
the  Lord  in  his  mercy  remember  his  widow  and  orphans  ;  I  will  re- 
member them  in  temporal  things. 

In  the  fall  and  winter  of  this  year  I  purchased  two  flat-boat  loads 
of  pipe  staves  on  Tennessee  river  and  floated  them  to  New-Orleans. 
1  worked  hard  at  the  oars  on  my  way  down,  being  over  anxious  to 
pay  debts.  I  was  taken  with  a  further  relapse  of  fever,  insanity  and 
epilepsy,  and  waen  I  arrived  at  the  port,  of  destination  the  article 
was  selling  low  in  market  and  money  was  scarce.  Hence  my  trip 
was  not  profitable,  and  after  disposing  of  my  lumber  and  paying  a 
bill  of  six  hundred  dollars  in  New-Orleans,  together  with  the  pay- 
ment of  hands  and  other  contingent  expenses  incurred,  I  had  but 
little  money  left.  I  took  passage  on  board  the  steamboat  New  Al- 
bany, bound  for  Florence,  Alabama.  While  coining  up,  my  life 
seemed  still  more  dreary.  I  went  ashore  in  Perry  county,  out  of 
heart,  out  of  money,  and  nearly  out  of  friends.  I  walked  several 

miles  to  the  house  of  a  friend  C ,  and  stayed  all  night  with 

him,  and  he  loaned  me  a  horse  to  ride  home.  He  then  had  it  in  his 
power  to  save  my  life  and  win  great  laurels  to  his  brow  both  in  time 
and  eternity.  1  travelled  the  next  day  shivering  with  cold  and  fear. 
This  brought  me  up  to  the  12th  day  of  February,  1842.  Within 
about  one  mile  of  Palestine,  where  I  had  sustained  heavy  losses,  and 
within  about  five  mjles  of  Merriwether  Lewis'  grave,  I  dismounted 
my  horse,  took  from  my  pocket  a  weapon,  and  in  a  freak  of  insan- 
ity and  raving  madness,  with  a  severe  fit  of  epilepsy,  I  put  an  end 
to  all  things  with  me  for  a  while.  I  have  but  a  faint  recollection  of 
this  act ;  not  sufficient  to  give  the  reader  a  full  and  correct  detail. 
I  am  told  that  I  was  found  in  this  condition  and  carried  into  a  house, 
and  through  the  goodness  of  God,  and  medical  aid.  I  was  brought  to 


CAUSE    AND    TREATMENT.  23 

for  some  purpose,  He  only  knows  what — perhaps  to  write  this  book 
for  the  benefit  of  the  people — for  just  as  the  mind  directs  the  pen 
doth  move.  I  was  there  taken  care  of  and  treated  kindly  for  a  day 
or  two,  and  all  the  time  by  a  part  of  the  community ;  another  part 
began  to  hold  their  grand  councils,  I  was  treated  especially  well  by 
the  landlord  and  his  family,  the  physicians  and  my  brothers,  with, 
some  others  of  their  neighbors,  for  which  kind  treatment  they  will 
please  receive  my  hearty  thanks.  But  the  great  misfortune  was, 
they  took  the  case  in  hand  just  eighteen  years  too  late.  Or,  per- 
haps, if  they  had  taken  it  in  hand  ten  years  earlier  it  might  have 
answered  a  very  good  purpose.  However,  I  never  was  treated  as 
an  insane  man  one  single  day  of  my  life  up  to  that  time. 

At  which  time  they  held  their  grand  councils. 

And  sentenced  that  I  should  be  shot ; 
But  he  who  rules  the  seas  and  mountains 

Sent  judgments  on  them  which  said  they  should  not. 
A  nice  sentence  to  pass  on  an  insane  man, 

The  writer's  ideas  they  were  keen  to  borrow, 
The  one  who  was  to  pull  the  trigger  had  better  held  a  fan, 

That  they  intended  to  have  me  shot  to-morrow. 
This  they  tried  from  me  to  keep  concealed, 

But  their  plans  to  me  were  all  revealed. 

I  will  here  give  an  elegy  in  poetry  to  the  memory  of  Meriwether 
Lewis,  who,  in  company  with  his  friend  Clarke,  explored  the  Rocky 
Mountains : 

A  Lewis  and  a  Clarke  were  both  great. 

But  of  the  two  Lewis  was  the  greatest  of  the  great 

He  was  by  his  country  bartered, 

And  so  was  my  brother  and  I, 

And  with  them  I  desired  to  die. 

L.'s  condition  no  man  could  detect; 

Will  Tennessee  never  o'er  his  grave  a  monument  erectt 

I've  stood  by  his  grave  and  mourned  the  cross 

That  a  man  of  so  much  worth  was  to  his  country  lost. 

I've  heard  that  dead  men  could  not  talk, 

But  I  can  both  talk  and  walk, 

And  I've  been  as  dead  as  any  man  you  ever  saw, 

Either  by  natural  death  or  law, 

And  with  my  pen  I  can  write, 

I'll  keep  my  country's  cause  in  sight. 

One  mile  with  a  broken  heart  I  could  not  come. 

Five,  fifteen  and  forty  were  the  ones  I  most  did  love, 

I  had  travelled  them  an  hundred  times  before, 

And  am  travelling  them  millions  more. 

I  believe  if  I  had  been  placed  under  the  same  kind  of  treatment  at 
any  time  between  the  age  of  fifteen  and  the  date  of  1832,  for  six 
months,  that  I  have  received  since  I  have  been  an  inmate  of  this 
institution,  that  I  would  this  day  have  been  a  sound  and  useful  man 
among  my  readers.  But  I  could  get  no  man  to  act  either  tor  love 
or  money,  only  at  just  such  times  and  in  such  way  as  they  saw 


24  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

proper.  I  offered  a  reward  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  any  man  to 
detect  my  condition  and  act  upon  it  as  they  should  do.  I  would  have 
paid  it  cheerfully ;  but.  on  the  contrary,  some  of  my  friends  told  me 
that  their  Bibles  taught  them  to  cheat,  and  defraud,  and  abuse  me. 
I  told  them  to  watch  close — that  not  one  single  passage  could  be 
found  in  the  Bible  wherein  they  were  authorized  to  cheat  and  defraud 
any  man,  much  less  an  insane  man.  But  you  can  find  in  the  Bible 
where  you  are  commanded  to  heal,  teach,  and  take  care  of  those  who 
are  diseased  either  in  body  or  mind — let  the  disease  be  of  whatever 
character  it  may — and  to  see  that  they  be  not  cheated  and  defraud- 
ed, and  to  feed  the  hungry  and  to  clothe  the  naked.  Some  of  the 
very  same  men  who  had  always  refused  to  treat  my  condition  as 
that  of  an  insane  man,  and  had  stood  opposed  to  bringing  me  here, 
when  it  was  then  forever  too  late,  seemed  to  be  very  wrathy,  and 
wanted  to  know  why  I  had  not  given  them  the  credit  of  treating  my 
case. 

I  now  give  the  reader  a  view  of  the  past  eighteen  years  in 
poetry : 

REVIEW. 

My  first  physician  can  take  back  his  calomel  of  sixty  grains, 

To  take  his  twelve  pills  was  pretty  tough, 
They  all  my  constitution  broke  and  destroyed  my  brains; 

So  the  reader  might  well  suppose  my  road  was  pretty  rough 
The  quart  of  blood  made  me  so  weak 

I  could  not  plough  to  make  meat  and  bread, 
I  was  for  some  time  I  could  not  dpeak, 
.  His  emetic  was  too  severe  for  much  about  it  to  be  said. 

My  second  can  take  back  his  grains  forty-five, 

My  third' can  take  back  his  thirty; 
For  under  such  a  course  no  man  could  survive, 

So  this  all  lamped  together  looks  quite  dirty ; 
When  this  they,  see  they'd  better  keep  as  still  as  mice 

Such  a  course  might  do  to  physic  a  horse, 
For  if  I  •write  again  I'll  write  twice  or  thrice ; 

Thus  they  left  me  half  dead  or  worse. 

The  man  I  am  now  with  gives  grains  from  ten  to  twenty, 

And  he  of  course  should  know, 
And  he  says  it  is  a  plenty ; 

He  heals  men  as  fast  as  they  can  come  and  go. 
They  had  just  as  well,  in  a  rage  of  fury. 

Hang  their  patients  without  judge  or  jury. 
„  Mr.  X.  can  take  back  his  razor, 

And  use  it  to  scrape  an  Irish  grazier. 

Eighteen  years  they  had  to  cheat  and  defraud, 

They  were  keen  for  eighteen  more, 
To  abuse  the  writer  both  at  home  and  abroad, 

But,  alas  !  they  found  him  laying  in  blood  and  gore ; 
And  then  they  undertook  to  heal, 

But  ah !  it  was  too  late — 
To  their  surprise  he  did  reveal 

To  them  their  eternal  fate. 


CAUSE    AND    TREATMENT.  25 

In  the  past  eighteen  they  lost  many  laurels, 

And  instead  of  healing  their  insane, 
They  sought  for  many  quarrels, 

And  now  have  nothing  to  abuse  but  his  remains. 
They  set  themselves  up  as  perfect  judges, 

And  promised  that  they  would  show — 
But  they  cut  so  many  splurges 

It  caused  me  to  strike  the  blow. 

They  held  their  Bibles  taught  them  thus, 

I  told  them,  then,  they  were  mistaken  ;• 
No  Bible  teaches  you  to  make  a  fuss 

Around  a  man  whose  head  and  heart  is  breaking. 
They  turned 'their  dying  insane  out  of  doors, 

And  thought  they  were  doing  something  great 
To  wait  and  see  the  blood  stream  from  all  the  pores, 

They  were  keen  to  see  the  writer's  fate. 

To  take  care  of  their  insane  they  were  too  good. 

Lest  in  the  act  expenses  should  incur, 
This  they  told  me  from  my  boyhood, 

To  treat  my  case  they  would  refer ; 
They  promised  that  in  years  one 

They  would  have  all  things  done 
But  then  they  thought  they  must  have  two 

In  which  they  gave  nothing  new 

But  then  they  required  a  third, 

And  in  it  they  lost  their  bird ; 
And  they  fed  me  through  the  fourth 

On  nothing  else  but  boiling  broth. 
Then  again  they  must  have  five, 

In  it  to  abuse  and  drive  ; 
And  affirmed  in  the  year  six, 

That  they  would  all  things  fix 

Then  they  must  have  the  seven—- 
Thus they  run  from  eight  to  eleven, 

And  in  twelve,  thirteen  and  fourteen, 
They  were  all  engaged  in  sporting ; 

And  in  fifteen  and  sixteen 

They  their  plans  were  fixing, 

And  in  seventeen  and  eighteen, 

They  might  still  be  seen  a  waiting. 

But  in  them  all,  eighteen  in  number, 

They  did  commit  an  awful  blunder, — 
Their  poor  insane  they  all  forgot, 

To  heal  the  writer  they  would  not. 
But  they  had  to  drink  his  blood 

Because  they  left  him  in  the  mud 
Some  of  them  expressed  great  sorrow, 

I  hope  they'll  all  be  better  by  to-morrow 

They  then  required  another  year 

In  it  they  would  act  sincere  ; 
The  writer  had  them  years  eternal, 

And  bid  farewell  to  his  dear  colonel. 
In  spite  of  all  their  spleen  and  hate, 

The  fame  of  this  work  will  be  great, 
They  will  have  to  face  it  on  the  final  day, 

When  they  will  not  know  what  to  say. 


26  THE  AUTHOR'S  CASE. 

In  conclusion  of  the  short  sketch  of  my  own  case,  I  must  here,  in 
justice  to  my  old  friends  and  new  acquaintances,  say  that  since  I 
have  been  here,  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  first  respectability  in 
the  city  of  Nashville,  have  received  me  into  their  houses,  and  treated 
me  with  hospitality  and  respect. 

And  in  return  for  their  pure  friendship 

I've  give  them  my  advice  how  to  worship. 

To  name  them  all  'twould  be  too  tedious, 

I  hope  they  are  and  will  become  religious  j 

When  this  work  comes  out,  if  people  think  it  fin< 

My  heirs  will  keep  it  up  through  all  time  ; 

And  when  before  the  public  laid, 

A  second  edition  can  be  made. 

And  when  the  first  and  second  is  blended 

The  secret  will  not  be  half  ended. 

I  have  written  many  pages — 

On  it  I  will  try  for  wages. 

My  children  must  be  fed  and  clad, 

For  weaving  of  the  first  web  I'll  be  glad. 


THE   AUTHOR, 


INSANITY. 


IN  the  first  place,  there  is  a  difference  between  insanity  and 
idiotism.  An  idiot  is  a  foolish  male  or  female,  in  an  entirely  help- 
less condition.  An  insane  man  or  woman  is  one  who  is  deranged 
and  dethroned  of  the  power  of  thinking-  for  and  the  capacity  of  taking 
care  of  themselves — one  who,  in  a  fit  of  epilepsy,  would  tear  out  his 
own  eyes — one  who  has  some  very  good  ideas  on  some  subjects  and 
very  bad  ones  on  others — one  who  is  subject  to  be  led  about  by  the 
whims  of  a  perverse  generation  of  people— a  monomaniac  or  a  ma- 
niac. All  men  that  are  insane  are  not  insane  on  the  same  subject. 
Some  men  are  insane  upon  one  subject  and  some  upon  another, 
some  upon  one  subject  and  not  upon  others,  and  some  are  insane 
upon  all  subjects.  Insanity  is  not  produced  from  the  same  cause  in 
every  case :  it  is  produced  from  various  causes,  and  there  are  differ- 
ent grades  of  the  disease — some  men  are  partially  insane  and  some 
are  wholly  insane.  Under  these  different  heads  the  disease  is  pro- 
duced as  follows : 

1.  It  is  hereditary  in  some  families — the  son  inherits  the  father's 
estate  and  sometimes  his  disease. 

2.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from  the  death  of  a  near  relation  01 
of  a  bosom  friend.     Two  hearts  may  be  united  in  bonds  of  affection 
— one  of  them  may  die  and  the  other  become  a  wandering  maniac. 

3.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from   religious  excitement.      Some 
men  become  insane  upon  the  subjects  of  religion,  death  and  eternal 
judgment— three  of  the  most  dangerous  subjects  that  a  man  can 
become  insane  upon. 

4.  It  is  frequently  produced  from  sudden  hard  spells  of  sickness, 
fevers,  &c.,  and  sometimes  by  much  study. 

5.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from  sudden  disappointment  and  mis- 
fortunes, or  reverse  of  fortune. 

6.  Sometimes  it  is  produced  from  sudden  fright  and  dread  of  con- 
sequences. 

7.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from  disappointed  affection. 

8.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from  a  change  of  occupation — where 

29 


30  INSANITY. 

one  has  been  brought  up  at  one  trade  and  led  to  forsake  it  in  the 
prime  of  life  and  engage  in  another. 

9.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from  pretended  friendship — professing 
to  be  a  man's  friend  and  all  the  time  his  secret  enemy. — That  thing 
called  pretended   friendship,  when  a  man's  life  is  at  stake,  is  the 
most  degrading  thing  on  earth. 

10.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from  close  application  to  business,  but 
never  from  a  relaxation  of  business. 

11.  It  is  oftener  produced  from  maltreatment  and  abusive  lan- 
guage than  anything  else.     It  is  never  produced  from  kind  treat- 
ment. 

12.  It  is  sometimes  produced  from  intemperance  and  opium  eating. 
Then,  again,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  sometimes  the  case,  that  intemper- 
ance   is   produced  by   insanity — from    the    want   of   having    good 
examples  se"t  before  the  subject  in  early  life,  or  the  want  of  proper 
parental  care  and  advice — from   the  want  of  proper   tuition    and 
training  of  the  mind.      Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go, 
and  when  he  becomes  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it.     So  says  the 
book  of  all  books,  by  which  we  should  all  be  governed. 

13.  A  joint  may  be  dislocated,  an  inflammation  take  place  and 
extend  to  the  brain,  thereby  producing  insanity. 

14.  The  liver  may  be  affected  so  as  to  produce  insanity. 

15.  The  spine  and  marrow  may  be  affected  and  thereby  produce 
insanity. 

16.  There  is  a  ligament  running  from  the  shoulder  to  the  brain 
that  may  be  so  affected  as  to  produce  insanity. 

17.  The  brain  itself  may  be  affected  and  thereby  produce  insanity. 
In  short,  a  disease  may  locate  itself  in  any  part  of  the  system  and 

extend  to  the  brain,  thereby  producing  insanity,  monomania  or 
rnania,  and  raving  madness.  There  are  many,  other  causes,  such 
as  over-exertion,  exposure,  sudden  changes  from  heat  to  cold,  going 
into  the  water  after  having  taken  mercury  or  calomel,  the  loss  of 
sleep  or  appetite,  and  game-making,  tittering  and  laughing  at  a 
man's  misfortunes,  blows  on  the  head,  etc. ;  but  those  under  the 
above  specified  heads  are  the  principal  leading  and  grand  causes. 

The  disease  may  be  healed  as  easily  as  any  other  disease  in  the 
world,  if  taken  in  time,  and  there  are  but  two  plans  by  which  a  cure 
can  be  effected.  The  manner  of  treatment  should  be  as  follows: — 

It  requires,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  friends  of  the  subject  take 
the  case  in  hands.  If  an  insane  man  is  left  to  have  himself  healed, 
he  is  just  as  apt  to  kill  himself  as  to  heal  himself,  and  more  apt. 
It  requires  medical  aid  where  you  are  not  blessed  with  an  insane 
hospital.  One  very  good  plan  is  to  place  the  subject  under  the  care 
of  a  very  careful  physician,  and  let  him  alone  be  the  judge  of  the 
case,  and  not  listen  to  one  single  word  that  may  be  said  by  common 
people  about  the  condition  of  his  patient ;  give  not  one  single 
abusive  word,  nor  suffer  any  one  else  to  abuse,  and  let  him  show  by 
his  conduct  as  well  as  by  his  words  that  he  may  confide  in  him. 


TREATMENT.  31 

Notwithstanding  you  should  show  all  this  kind  protection,  you 
should  at  the  same  time  deal  with  candor  when  you  see  your  pa- 
tient's life  at  stake — but  act  kindly,  speak  kindly,  and  treat  kindly, 
— administer  your  medicine  in  small  doses,  and  repeat  them  often. 
Mild  emetics  and  purgatives  are  the  most  valuable  remedies ;  a 
seaton  in  the  back  of  the  neck  is  sometimes  useful.  Feed  upon 
light  diet,  such  as  rice,  tea,  milk  and  mush,  squirrel  or  chicken  soup, 
and  a  limb  of  the  flesh,  with  loaf  bread.  The  physician  must  be 
very  certain  that  he  is  not  mistaken  in  the  condition  of  his  patient, 
and  not  pronounce  him  sane  until  he  is  sane,  nor  well  until  he  is 
well.  The  patient  must  be  taken  from  the  transactions  of  all  busi- 
ness while  healing.  All  the  physicians  in.  the  world  cannot  heal 
the  disease  and  require  the  subject  to  transact  a  heavy  business. 
They  must  also  be  taken  from  the  presence  of  any  person  or  persons, 
and  from  the  presence  of  any  of  the  cirucnmstances  which  may 
have  produced  the  disease.  It  must  be  taken  upon  from  the  first  to 
the  third  stages  of  the  disease.  There  are  just  as  many  stages  of 
the  disease  as  there  are  nerves  or  fibres  in  the  brain  ;  I  do  not  know 
how  many  nerves  or  fibres  there  are,  nor  do  I  believe  any  other  man 
knows,  threfore  I  cannot  tell  how  many  grades  there  are  in  the 
disease,  but  there  are  a  great  many ;  the  first  nerve  may  become  af- 
fected or  lose  its  balance,  and  if  you  neglect  the  restoring  of  it  the 
contagion  will  extend  to  the  second,  and  from  the  second  to  the 
third,  and  if  not  taken  in  hands  at  this  stage  it  will  extend  to  the 
fourth,  and  from  this  to  the  fifth — running  from  one  to  the  other 
through  the  brain  or  around  the  forehead  in  rapid  successions,  until 
the  whole  becomes  diseased,  be  they  more  or  less. 

We  will  suppose  the  disease  to  locate  itself  in  the  right  temple, 
and  extend  through  the  nerves  until  it  terminates  its  dreadful  pro- 
gress in  the  last  nerve,  which  is  in  the  left  temple.  At  this  juncture 
of  time  it  would  be  impossible  to  effect  a  cure.  The  better  plan  of 
healing  is  to  bring  them  to  the  Insane  Institution  at  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  or  some  other  lunatic  asylum  nearest  your  reach,  and 
place  them  under  the  care  of  men  appointed  by  the  State  to  take 
care  of  such  persons.  I  have  been  an  inmate  of  the  above  named 
institution  for  the  last  three  years,  in  the  last  stage  of  the  disease, 
and  I  must  here,  in  justice  to  the  practising  physician,  trustees, 
matrons,  and  assistant  officers,  say,  that  in  point  of  hospitality,  pru- 
dence and  care,  they  may  be  equalled,  but  cannot  be  surpassed.  It 
is  too  frequently  the  case  that  in  many  families  they  select  their 
insane  to  cheat  and  defraud,  abuse  and  bemean,  and  force  them  to 
do  the  hardships  and  drudgery  of  their  business,  when  they  should 
be  taking  care  of  them.  If  God,  in  wisdom  and  mercy,  blesses 
you  with  the  power  of  thinking  for,  and  the  capacity  of  taking  care 
of  yourself,  and  he  creates  you  half  a  dozen  sons,  all  sane  but  one, 
and  let  that  one  be  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  fifth  or  last,  it  is 
made  your  especial  duty  to  provide  for  that  insane  one  in  preference 
to  all  others — not  to  excess  or  extravagance,  for  insanity  does  not 


32  INSANITY 

know  when  it  is  running  into  extremes — it  is  simply  your  duty  to 
reasonably  feed,  clothe  and  protect  them,  and  to  use  all  due  means 
and  all  due  diligence  in  due  time,  by  which  you  may  have  them 
healed,  taught  and  taken  care  of;  and  it  is  unbecoming  in  the 
others  to  throw  up  to  the  parent  that  he  is  taking  care  of  the  insane 
one,  or  even  hint  to  him  that  he  is  doing  so,  for  it  is  no  more  than 
his  duty.  It  would  be  more  credit  to  them  to  aid  the  parent  in 
taking  care  of  the  insane  one,  than  throw  up  to  the  father  that  he  is 
doing  it ;  and  if,  in  the  absence  of  your  care  as  sane  parents  and 
sane  brothers  towards  an  insane  son  or  brother,  that  son  or  brother 
comes  to  a  premature  death  for  the  want  of  your  care,  you  are  held 
responsible  at  the  bar  of  Almighty  God  for  the  life  of  your  son  or 
brother,  and  for  the  well  being,  healing,  teaching  and  reasonably 
feeding  and  clothing  that  unfortunate  son  or  brother.  But  if  you 
are  living  within  the  discharge  of  your  duty,  if  you  are  acting  in  the 
capacity  of  sane  parents  or  brothers  towards  your  insane  son  01 
brother,  and  he  steals  a  march  upon  you  and  takes  his  life,  in  that 
event  you  are  not  held  responsible— you  stand  acquitted ;  but  if 
you  are  living  outside  of  your  duty,  and  have  been  living  so  all 
along  this  little  short  journey  of  life,  you  are  held  firmly  bound  at 
the  bar  of  Almighty  God  for  every  crime  he  commits  while  in  a 
state  of  insanity.  The  sane  are  made  the  stewards  of  the  insane — 
it  is  a  kind  of  stewardship  ;  it  is  your  duty  to  act  in  a  two-fold 
capacity — to  act  for  yourselves  and  for  your  unfortunate  son  or 
brother.  Some  persons  try  to  excuse  themselves  upon  the  ground 
that  they  did  not  know  it,  to  be  their  condition,  which  is  no  excuse 
— for  it  is  made  your  duty  to  investigate  those  things,  and  the  time 
to  investigate  is  when  they  are  children,  or  at  some  time  in  their 
raising.  Even  the  heathen  tribes  take  care  of  their  insane,  and 
why  not  this  enlightened  nation  ? 

The  Son  of  God,  while  on  earth,  healed  such  persons  himself. 
He  acted  in  the  capacity  of  a  physician — he  commanded  that  they 
should  be  brought  unto  him  that  they  might  be  healed.  When  He 
ascended  on  high  He  left  His  holy  example,  by  which  you  who 
profess  to  be  His  followers  might  be  governed  in  such  cases.  That 
is  a  holy  will,  and  if  you  will  examine  it  you  will  find  written  in 
plain,  legible  letters— plain  to  be  read  by  any  man — the  words 
heal,  teach,  and  take  care  of — to  rear  up,  cheer  up,  and  to  build 
up.  He  d\£  not  recommend  the  abusing  of  such  persons,  but 
looked  upon  them  as  objects  of  compassion  and  mercy.  Kind  and 
mild  reproofs,  meek  reproofs,  mixed  with  brotherly  kindness  and 
affection,  are  excellent  in  such  cases.  But  harsh,  abrupt  reproofs, 
mixed  with  malice,  ambition  and  malignity,  and  that  from  a  per- 
son in  whom  the  subject  has  no  confidence,  only  adds  fuel  to  the 
fire;  it  creates  wrath  against  the  day  of  wrath.  First  take  the 
beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  then  thou  canst  see  clearly  how  to 
take  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother's  eye.  Many  poor  souls  are  lost, 
and  lost  to  irretrievable  wo,  just  for  the  want  of  a  friend  to  cry 


TREATMENT.  33 

out  insanity,  and  act  awhile  until  they  get  well.  And  if  your 
friend  becomes  insane,  and  you  wish  to  have  him  or  her,  as 
the  case  may  be,  healed,  taught,  and  taken  care  of,  and  you  have 
not  the  means,  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  has  made 
ample  provisions  in  such  cases.  If  you  bring  your  insane  friends 
here,  that  does  not  go  to  say  that  you  should  keep  them  here 
always,  but  it  goes  to  say  that  you  should  keep  them  here  until  they 
get  well  or  die. 

If,  simply  because  you  are  blessed  with  the  capacity  of  judging 
the  value  of  property,  and  your  unfortunate  fellow-being  is  not  so 
blessed,  you  take  from  that  man  or  woman,  boy  or  girl,  by  any  unjust 
or  unfair  measures,  one  dollar,  it  is  held  as  an  act  of  theft  in  the 
first  degree  in  the  sight  of  God,  for  it  is  made  your  duty  to  trade  for 
yourself  and  them.     If  there  is  any  time  in  the  whole  course  of  a 
man's  life  that  his  friends  should  show  what  they  are,  it  is  when  he' 
is  in  a  state  of  insanity,  and  that  is  generally  the  very  time  they  do 
show  precisely  what  they  are.     The  discovery  is  made  in  about  one 
case  in  every  hundred,  and  in  about  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred 
their  friends  play  the  very  old  scratch.     About  the  time  they  think 
they  intend  to  destroy  themselves,  they  mount  their  ponies  and  raise 
the  hell-hound  cry,  and  make  them  go  it  right  or  wrong  ;  and  when 
their  friend  is  dead,  they  look  back  and  feel  quite  foolish.     After 
they  have  cheated  and  defrauded  their  insane  out  of  .everything 
they  have,  and  abused  and  driven  them  under  whip  and  spur  day 
and  night,  and   put  more  on  them  than  human  nature  can  bear, 
and  finally  find  them  in  their  rooms  with  their  brains  blown  out, 
drowned  in  some  creek,  hanging  by  the  neck,  or  with  their  throats 
cut,  they  come  out  and  tell  the  people  if  they  only  had  them  back 
they  would  take  care  of  them  and  treat  them  kindly.     There  is  but 
one  kind  of  insanity  that  should   be  treated  with   disrespect,  and 
that  is  hypocritical  insanity — for  a  man  to  go  about  and  tell  the 
people  he  is  insane  to  evade  hard  labor,  when  he  is  not,  that  class 
should  be  treated  with  contempt  and  disrespect;  but  where  it  is  a 
disease  located  in  the  brain,  it  should  have  its  just  deserts  in  due 
time,  according  to  its  day  and  time.     Some  men  would  perhaps  say, 
that  the  just  deserts  of  insanity  would  be  to  imprison  it  in  the 
penitentiary  ;  others  would  pay  it  should  be  hung  ;  and  others,  per- 
haps, would  think  it  just  to  hand  it  a  weapon  and  command  it  to 
take  it?  life.     But  I  would  advise  you  to  read  your  Bibles,  the  laws 
of  your  country,  the  Constitution  of  the  State   and    the  United 
States ;  they  will  teach  you  what  the  just  deserts  of  insanity  are  ; 
they  will  protect  insanity  ;  the  insane  laws  do  well  enough — all 
that  is  wanting  in  such  cases  is  a  proper  application — it  is  a  very 
plain  law — a  boy  of  a  dozen  years  of  age  can  travel  through  it. 
There  are  fine  turnpike  roads  leading  to  this  institution  ;  it  is  a  large 
and  spacious  building,  situated  on  a  beautiful,  elevated,  healthy 
piece  of  ground,  and  furnished  with  eighty-seven  rooms,  and  all 
well  furnished  with  bedding.     Ladies  and  gentlemen  of  the  first 

3 


34  INSANITY. 

respectability,  from  different  parts  of  the  United  States,  visit  the 
institution,  and  very  frequently  ascend  to  the  fine  cupola  on  the  top 
of  the  building,  for  the  purpose  of  viewing  the  magnificent  scenery 
surrounding  the  city  of  Nashville.     It  is  by  no  means  a  penitentiary 
to  those  of  its  inmates  who  have  anything  like  reasonable  health. 
In  short,  it  and  its  facilities  are  complete  -restoratives  of  depreciated 
mental  powers.    Those  Avho  should  be  friends  to  the  unfortunate 
men  and  women  who  are  mentally  diseased,  will  always  have  their 
own  way  and  notions  about  their  condition — they  are  always  too 
young'or  too  old — too  rich  or  too  poor,  the  weather  too  warm  or  loo 
cold,  too  wet  or  too  dry,  the  creek  too  high  or  too  low,  too  soon  or 
too  late,  the  mill  is  to  go  to,  or  there  is  a  big  cheating  and  defraud 
ing  game  on  hand — anything,  in  many  families,  comes  in  before 
taking  care  of  their  insane.     If  you  cause  a  soul  to  come  into  this 
•  world  incapable  of  thinking  for,   trading  for,   and   taking  care  of 
itself,  and  yon  live  wholly  in  the  neglect  of  treating  its  condition  as 
such,  you  had  just  as  well  murder  it  when  a  child,  and  perhaps 
better,  for  in  that  act  you  would  have  it  out  of  (he  way  at  once, 
whereas  the  other  is  a  slow  murder.     It  is  a  tenfold  greater  crime 
to  live  in  the  neglect  of  treating  a  case  of  insanity  that  may  occur 
in  your  land  or  nation,  than  it  is  to  live  in  the  neglect  "of  Dealing 
virtue,  for  virtue  needs  no  healing,  and  insanity  does.     Virtue  can 
take  care  of  herself,  and  insanity  cannot.     It  is  a  tenfold  greater 
crime  to  cheat,  .defraud,  slander,  or.  lead   insanity  astray  in  any 
respect  whatever,  than  virtue.     If  by  good  fortune  insanity  happens 
to  make  you  a  soft  bed,  you  are  entitled  to  a  portion  of  it— and  if 
by  misfortune  it  happens  to  make  you  a  hard  bed,  sanity  must  take 
insanity's  fate.     It  is  not  the  man  who  sells  an  insane  man  pro- 
perty upon  a  credit  at  a  high  price,  and  gets  him  involved  in  debt, 
and  takes  it  back  at  a  low  price,  or  who  sells  him  gowds  upon 
credit,  or  who  lends  him  money  al  high  interest,  or  endorses  for* 
him;    neither  is  it  the  person  that  sets  traps  and  snares  to  lead 
the  insane  astray  to  gratify  their  own  propensities.     None  of  these 
are  the  friends  of  the  insane ;  it  is  the  man  who  heals,  teaches,  and 
has  an  eye  to  their  safety ;  it  is  the  one  who  reasonably  clothes, 
feeds,  and  gives    a    drink  of   water    to   cool  their    raging    thirst, 
and  sees  that  they  are  not  cheated  and  defrauded  ;  and  when  able 
to  labor,  it  should  be  required  of  them  in   a  reasonable  and  light 
degree. 

.You,  as  a  community  of  people,  where  you  have  had  a  reason- 
able time  given  you  to  suspect  insanity,  and  any  good  cause  shown 
you  why  you  should  suspect  it.  are  held  just  as  much  responsible  at 
the  bar  of  Almighty  God,  for  living  in  the  neglect  of  treating  the 
subject  as  such,  as  you  are  for  not  punishing  sane  men  for  doing 
wrong.  It  is  no  disgrace  to  you  to  have  an  insane  son,  Wot  her, 
uncle,  or  nephew  ;  neither  is  it  any  disgrace  to  you  to  have  an  insane 
son-in-law,  brgther-in-law  or  cousin,  nor  is  it  a  disgrace  to  you  should 
your  insane  relations  do  wrong.  If  God  gives  you  an  insane  child,  • 


TREATMENT. 

it  is  not  your  fault,  nor  can  it  be  helped  ;  still  there  is  a  disgrace 
attached  to  +:  yet  the  disgrace  is  not  upon  the  part  of  the  insane, 
but  upon  the  part  of  the  sane.  But,  says  the  reader,  you  are 
stumped  now.  Not  so — I  will  lead  you  out  of  it  in  a  few  words. 
You  receive  the  disgrace  by  maltreating  them  and  living  in  the  neg- 
lect of  treating  them  as  insane  persons. 

Insanity  is  the  last  thing  upon  the  face^  of  God's  earth  that  you 
should  seek  to  blast  the  prospects  of,  both  for  time  and  eternity. 
Your  Bibles  teach  you  to  go  out  in  search  of  such  persons,  and 
see  if  there  be  any  in  your  land  and  nation  of  this  class.  If  so, 
when  you  find  them,  this  book  "'will  teach  you  what  to  do  with 
them. 

Religion  and  virtue  combined  are  the  bold  defenders  and  protec- 
tors of  insanity,  whether  upon  young  or  old,  male  or  female.  I 
don't  care  how  base  the  form,  all  that  religion  and  virtue  wants  to 
know,  is  the  soul  insane — if  so,  says  religion  and  virtue,  I  am 
a  friend  to  that  soul.  Religion  and  virtue,  high-minded  and  honor- 
able, reaches  out  the  arm  and  takes  the  subject  by  the  hand,  and 
calls  it  brother.  They  are  closely  allied  :  do  not  understand  riie  to 
say  that  religion  of  itself  produces  insanity,  but  religious  fanaticism 
— they  are  brothers — they  are  even  twin -brothers.  Religion  and 
virtue  take  a  delight  in  treating  a  case  of  insanity,  and  when  you 
se*e  a  community  of  people  running  about  their  streets,  camp- 
grounds and  neighborhoods,  hunting  up  and  circulating  reports 
upon  the  insane,  take  it  for  granted  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
virtue  or  religion  reigning  in  the  hearts  of  that  community.  But 
if  you  see  them  step  to  the  subject,  and  have  them  healed,  taught 
and  taken  care«of,  you  may  then  say  that  that  community  knows 
something  about  religion  in  earnest.  It  is  sound  policy  in  any 
government  to  take  care  of  their  insane — a  community  of  people 
grow  rich  by  taking  care  of  their  insane,  and  they  grow  poor  by 
living  in  that  neglect.  God  will  not  let  any  comm'unity  of  people 
prosper  that  maltreats  insanity — no  gentleman  will  abuse  the  insane 
— you  cannot  hire  him  to  ill-treat  them — no,  not  for  all  the  money 
in  the  world. 

I  will  cite  to  you  three  cases  of  insanity  that  occurred  within  the 
circle  of  my  acquaintance.  The  first  case,  E.,  occurred  with  a 
gentleman  from  thirty  to  thirty-five  years  of  age,  in  the  year 
1830.  It  first  assumed  the  character  of  moral  insanity,  with  melan- 
choly depression.  '  The  gentleman  ranked  in  the  first  class  of  dry 
goods  dealers  of  his  town,  and  seemed  to  be  in  a  prosperous  condi- 
tion. In  the  space  of  four  or  five  years  it  assumed  the  character 
of  monomania,  and  in  the  course  of  three  or  four  years  more  it 
took  the  character  of  mania  or  raving  madness,  accompanied  with 
epilepsy.  Having  met  with  a  reverse  of  fortune  in  the  meantime, 
which  operated  against  the  disease,  and  no  protective  measures 
having  been  adopted  for  ten  years,  during  which  time  he  was 


36  INSANITY. 


engaged  in  a  heavy  retail  business,  his  disease  terminated  in  suicide 
in  1840.  T.  . 

The  second  case,  A.,  occurred  in  1831,  in  the  person  of  a  gentle- 
man about  the  same  age,  who  ranked  amongst  the  first  farmers  of 
his  country.  The  disease  also  first  assumed  the  character  of  moral 
insanity,  with  melancholy  depression.  In  the  space  of  three  or  four 
years  it  assumed  the  character  of  monomania,  mania  and  raving 
madness.  He  also  met  with  reverses  of  fortune  on  account  of  liabi- 
lities for  others.  No  protective  measures  were  adopted,  and  this 
case  also  terminated  in  suicide  in  1841. 

The  third  case,  W.,  occurred  with  a  gentleman  about  the  same 
time,  and  it  ran  through  the  same  form  ;  the  same  treatment  was  ren- 
dered, and  no  protective  measures  adopted,  but  on  the  contrary  a 
course  rather  upon  the  rigid  order  was  adopted  towards  all  three  of 
these  cases.  It  also  terminated  in  suicide  in  1841. 

All  three  of  these  men  made  attempts  on  their  lives  frequently  at 
intervals.  All  three  were  American  born,  and  once  in  affluent 
circumstances,  and  of  the  first  standing  in  society,  and'all  leaving 
families,  and  many  respectable  relations  and  friends  to  mourn  their 
untimely  loss.  So  much  against  maltreatment  in  cases  of  insanity. 
Would  it  not  have  been  better  to  have  sent  them  to  a  Lunatic 
Asylum? 

I  will  now  cite  the  reader  to  the  case  of  Captain  Lewis,  hereto- 
fore mentioned  in  a  piece  of  poetry.  He  was  a  man  of  the  highest 
order  of  talent,  and  of  unblemished  character.  In  the  early  settle- 
ment of  the  western  country  he  rendered  some  important  gratuitous 
services  to  the  government,  and  subsequently  he  applied  to  the  pro- 
per authorities  for  a  governmental  appointment,  which  was  refused 
him.  This  unexpected  disappointment  produced  a  melancholy 
depression.  He  justly  considered  himself  thrown  aside  by  his 
country,  by  being  refused  an  appoinynent  after  having  explored  the 
Rocky  Mountains  in  company  with  his  friend  Clarke,  mainly  for 
the  benefit  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  with  many 
other  services  rendered  to  his  country,  in  doing  which  he  underwent 
many  fatigues  and  much  arduous  labor.  When,  however,  another 
was  promoted  over  him,  he  became  deranged,  and  left  his  native 
State  for  New  Orleans.  After  remaining  there  a  short  time,  he 
started  on  his  return  home.  .At  about  thirty  miles  west  of  Columbia, 
in  Maury  county,  Tennessee,  and  hear  Grinder's  Stand,  in  Law- 
rence county,  he  met  with  a  hard  contest  in  his  own  mind,  and 
finally  his  noble  spirit  sunk  under  his  misfortunes,  and  he  came  to 
a  premature'  death  by  committing  suicide.  It  was  more  than  his 
nature  could  bear,  to  return  to  a  country  that  had  bartered  him  off 
for  his  inferior.  He  was  taken  into  the  house  of  Mr.  Grinder  soon 
after  the  wounds  were  inflicted,  and  expired  before  the  dawn  of 
the  next  day.  His  remains  lie  mouldering  in  their  mother  earth 
near  the  spot  where  he  breathed  his  last.  The  last  time  I  saw  his 


.-/TJXAtfi&i 
TREATMENT.  37 

grave  it  was  grown  over  with  wild  briars  and  shrubbery,  in  a  remote 
part  of  the  uninhabited  barrens  of  Lawrence  (now  Lewis)  county. 
Thus  died  the  noble  Lewis — next  in  enterprise  to  the  indefatigable 
and  intrepid  Christopher  Columbus. 

Three  other  cases  of  insanity  occurred  within  my  knowledge : 
The  first,  E.  W.,  was  that  of  a  young  gentleman  about  twenty 
years  of  age,  whose  friends,  however,  took  the  right  view  of  his 
condition  and  placed  him  under  kind  and  protective  measures.  It 
terminated  in  a  recovery,  and  he  is  now  a  respectable ,  member  of 
the  bar  in  the  practice  of  the  law. 

The  second  case,  J.  D.  W.,  was  that  of  a  gentleman  of  about 
twenty-five  years  of  age.  His  friends  adopted  measures  and  he  also 
recovered,  and  is  now  a  respectable  minister  of  the  Gospel. '  , 

The  third  case,  D.,  was  that  of  a  gentleman  aged  twenty-three. 
Kind  and  protective  measures  were  adopted  and  the  case  terminated 
in  a  recovery,  and  he  also  is  now  a  respectable  minister  of  the 
Gospel.  .;••  , 

So  much  for  kind  treatment  in  cases  of  insanity.  It  was  a 
fortunate  thing  for  them  to  be  thus  treated  kindly.  These  latter 
cases  assumed  as  great  a  tendency  to  prove  fatal  as  did  the  first 
three  that  terminated  in  suicide.  I  could  cite  you  to  many  other 
cases,  but  I  think  these  to  be  sufficient  to  convince  any  rational  mind 
of  the  great  impropriety  of  pursuing  a  rigid  course  of  treatment  in 
cases  of  insanity.  Some  men  advocate  the  doctrine  that  men  may 
become  insane  and  the  disease  wear  off.  It  is  all  humbuggery,  and 
won't  bear  telling.  God  never  created  the  soul  that  became  insane 
and  become  right  of  itself.  Do  not  understand  me  by  this  that  a 
man  cannot  be  brought  right  by  their  friends  upon  the  principles 
herein  laid  down. 

.  Pinel  has  related  a  very  striking  case :  A  man  had  creditably 
filled  his  place  in  society  until  his  fiftieth  year.  He  was  then 
smitten  with  an  immoderate 'passion  for  venereal  pleasures  and 
frequented  places  of  debauchery,  where  he  gave  himself  up  to  the 
utmost  excess,  and  then  returned  to  the  society  of  his  friends  to 
paint  the  charms  of  pure  and  spotless  love.  His  disorder  gradually 
increased,  his  seclusion  became  necessary,  and  he  very  soon  became 
a  raving  maniac. 

Ray  has  related  one  equally  striking.  He  says  a  man  had  lived 
many  years  in  a  happy  and  fruitful  union,  and  had  acquired  by  his 
industry  a  respectable  fortune.  After  having  retired  from  business 
and  led  an  idle  life,  his  predominant  propensity  gradually  obtained 
the  mastery  over  him,  and  he  yielded  to  his  desires  to  such  a  degree 
that,  though  still  in  possession  of  his  reason,  he  looked  on  every 
woman  as  a  victim  destined  to  gratify  his  sensual  appetite.  The 
moment  he  perceived  a  female  from  his  window  he  announced 
to  his  wife  and  daughters,  with  an  air  of  the  utmost  delight,  the 
bliss  that  awaited  him.  Finally  this  partial  mania  increased  to 


38  INSANITY. 

Tf  '"'<' 

general  mania,  and  shortly  after  he  died  in  an  insane  hospital  at 

Vienna. 

He  again  relates  a  case  of  a  robust  and  plethoric  young  man  who 
came  to  his  residence:  in  Vienna.  He  was  unusually  continent,  and 
was  attacked  with  erotic  mania.  Gall,  pursuing  the  treatment  indi- 
cated by  his  peculiar  views  of  the  origin  of  the  disease,  succeeded  in 
restoring  him  in  a  few  days  to  perfect  health.  7  \{ ' 

Another  case  is  related  of  a  well  educated,  clever  young  man, 
who,  almost  from  his  infancy,  had  felt  strong  erotic  impulses,  but. 
succeeded  in  controlling  them  to  a  certain  extent  by  means  of 
equally  strong  devotional  feelings.  After  his  situation  permitted 
him  to  indulge  without  constraint  in  the  pleasures  of  love,  he  soon 
made  the  fearful  discovery  that  it  was  often  difficult  for  him  to 
withdraw  his  mind  from  the  voluptuous  images  that  haunted  it  and 
fix  it.  on  the  important  and  even  urgent  concerns  of  business.  His 
whole  being  was  absorbed  in  sensuality.  He  obtained  relief  by  an 
assiduous  pursuit  of  scientific  objects  and  by  finding  out  new 
occupations. 

He  also  relates  the  case  of  a  very- intelligent  lady  who  was  tor- 
mented like  the  subject  of  the  last  mentioned  case,  from  infancy, 
with  the  most  inordinate  desires.  Her  excellent  education  alone 
saved  her  from  the  rash  indulgences  to  which  her  temperament  so 
violently  urged  her.  Arrived  at  maturity,  she  abandoned  herself 
to  the  gratification  of  her  desires,  but  this  only  increased  their  inten- 
sity. Frequently  she  saw  herself  on  the  verge  of  madness,  and  in 
despair  she  left  her  house  and  the  city  and  took  refuge  with  her 
mother,  wrho  resided  in  the  country,  where  the  absence  of  objects  to 
excite  desire,  the  greater  severity  of  manners,  and  the  culture  of  a 
garden,  prevented  the  explosion  of  the  disease.  After  having  changed 
her  residence  for  that  of  a  large  city,  she  was,  after  a  while,  threat- 
ened with  a  relapse,  and  again  she  took  refuge  with  her  mother.' 
On  her  return  to  Paris,  she  came  to,  me  (says  Dr.  Ray)  and  com- 
plained like  a  person  in  perfect  despair.  Every  moment  (she 
exclaimed)  I  see  nothing  but  the  most  lascivious  images — the  demon 
of  lust  unremittingly  pursues  me  at  the  table  and  even  in  my  sleep. 
I  am  an  object  of  disgust  to  myself,  and  I  feel  that  I  can  no  longer 
escape  madness  or  death. 

A  morbid  propensity  to  incendiarism,  or  pyromania,  as  it  has  been 
termed — -where  a  person,  though  otherwise  sane,  is  borne  on  by 
irresistible  power  to  the  commission  of  crime — has  received  the 
attention  of  medical  jurists,  by  most  of  whom  it  has  been  regarded 
as  a  distinct  form  of  insanit'y — annulling  responsibility  for  the  acts 
to  which  it  leads.  Numerous  cases  have  been  related  and  their 
medico-legal  relations  amply  discussed  by  men  of  renown.  In  a 
portion  of  these  cases  the  morbid  propensity  is  excited  by  the  ordin- 
ary causes  of  insanity ;  in  a  larger  class,  it  is  excited  by  that  con- 
stitutional disturbance  which  often  accompanies  the  menstrual  pe- 


TREATMENT.  39 

riods,  but  in  the  largest  class  of  all  it  occurs  at  the  age  of  puberty, 
and  seems  to  be  connected  with  retarded  violation  of  the  sexual  or- 
gans. The  case  of  Maria  Franc,  quoted  by  .Gall  from  a  German 
journal,  w ho  was  executed  for  house-burning,  may  be  referred  to  the 
first  class.  She  was  a  peasant  of  little  education,  and  in  conse- 
quence of  an  unhappy  marriage,  had  abandoned  herself  to  intem- 
perate drinking.  In  this  state  a  fire  occurred,  in  which  she  had  no 
share  ;  but  from  the  moment  she  witnessed  this  fearful  sight,  she 
felt  a  desire  to  fire  houses,  which,  whenever  she  was  under  the  influ- 
ence of  spirits,  was  converted  into  an  irresistible  inpulse.  She  could 
give  no  otheiveason  nor  show  any  other  motive  for  firing  so  many 
houses,  than  this  impulse  which  drove  her  to  it.  Notwithstanding 
the  fear,  the  terror  and  the  repentance  she  felt  in  every  instance^  she 
went  and  did  it  afresh.  In  other  respects  her  mind  was  sound. 
Within  five  years  she  fired  twelve  houses,  and  was  arrested  on  the 
thirteenth  attempt. 

Many  other  cases  like  these  might  be  quoted,  particularly  from 
the  writings  of  Esquirol,  but  the  above  are  sufficient  to  illustrate  a 
truth  as  generally  recognized  as  any  other  in  pathology,  and  to  con- 
vince the  most  sceptical  mind  that  if  insanity,  or,  in  more  explicit 
words,  morbid  action  in  the  brain,  inducing  a  diminution  of  moral 
liberty,  ever  exists,  it  does  in  what  is  called  erotic  mania. 

During  the  year  1825,  or  thereabouts,  F.  D.,  a  gentleman  in  the 
circle  of  my  acquaintance,  who  was  a  respectable  farmer,  arose  from 
his  bed  one  morning,  dressed  himself  and  walked  out  at  the  door — 
his  wife  supposing  he  had  gone  to  his  daily  avocation.  At  the  usual 
breakfast  hour  he  failed  to  attend,  and  she  went  to  the  stable  yard 
and  about  the  farm  in  search  of  him,  but  without  effect.  Her  fears 
of  some  sudden  misfortune  became  more  excited,  and  she  had  some 
of  the  neighbors  called  in,  and  a  search  commenced  in  the  wood- 
lands. After  searching  diligently,  on  the  second  day  he  was  found 
in  a  stale  of  exhaustion,  without  his  hat,  his  clothes  torn, 'and  a 
pole  in  his  hand  with  which,  he.  said,  he  was  killing  snakes.  They 
took  him  to  the  house,  rendered  some  medical  treatment,  gave  him 
tonics  and  nutritious  diet,  at  the  same  time  rendering  kind  treat- 
ment. The  case  terminated  in  a  recovery,  and  he  was  doing 
reasonably  well  the  last  account  I  had  of  him,  wrhich  was  in  the 
winter  of  1844.  If  no  protective  measures  had  been  adopted  lie 
might  in  all  probability  been  killing  snakes  to  this  day.  This  was 
a  case  of  mania-potu.  In  such  cases  you  should  approach  the 
subject  with  great  caution  and  care,  and  use  mild  words  and  mild 
means. 

Insanity  is  not  confined  to  any  particular  age,  neither  is  it  con- 
fined to  any  particular  individual.  It  has  an  unlimited  space  ;  it 
exists  whenever  man  exists,  and  it  is  just  as  contagious  as  small- 
pox or  measles.  A  sane  man  may  keep  company  with  an  insane 
man  and  contract  his  habits,  until  it  will  become  impossible  for  him 
to  wean  himself  from  those  practices.  Some  of  the  finest  laurels 


40 


INSANITY. 


are  won  in  cases  of  insanity,  and  it  is  very  requently  the  case  that 
some  of  the  finest  laurels  are  lost. 

There  is  nothing  that  raises  a  man  higher  in  the  estimation  of  a 
high  minded  and  enlightened  community  of  people,  nor  is  there 
anything  that  elevates  him  higher  in  the  estimation  of  the  Deity, 
than  to  take  care  of  an  insane  son  or  brother ;  nothing  looks  better 
in  the  eyes  of  men.  On  the  contrary,  nothing  can  sink  a  man 
lower  in  the  estimation  of  a  gentleman  than  to  live  in  that  neglect ; 
there  is  nothing  sinks  him  deeper  under  the  ire  and  wrath  of  a  sin- 
avenging  God.  Awake  to  your  own  interest — it  is  to  your  own  in- 
terest to  heal  insanity.  * 

The  smallest  hurts  sometimes  increase  and  rage 
Far  more  than  art  or  physic  can  assuage ; 
Sometimes  the  fury  of  the  worst  disease, 
The  hand  by  gentle  stroking  will  appease. — Prichard. 

The  great  desire  to  wait  and  see,  in  cases  of  insanity,  very  fre- 
quently prevents  action.  This  desire  is  very  prevalent  in  some 
parts  of  the  country.  I  have  heard  some  inen  express  a  desire  for  a 
case  of  insanity  that'  they  might  have  the  credit  of  taking  care  of 
them,  and  when  the  case  occurred  they  cruelly  turned  their  insane 
out  of  doorS.  God  creates  a  soul  but  once,  and  he  creates  a  genera- 
tion of  people  but  once ;  every  generation  of  people  have  to  account 
for  themselves ;  the  time  to  heal  is  when  you  become  sick,  and  the 
time  to  lead  your  friend  to  an  insane  institution  is  when  he  becomes 
insane.  Every  hour  any  disease  steals  upon  the  human  system 
makes  it  much  more  fatal.  I  have  always  been  at  a  loss  to  know 
what  motive  Diety  has  in  dethroning  men  of  their  reason.  I  have, 
however,  been  of  the  opinion  that  he  gives  a  man  an  insane  son  or 
brother  to  try  his  heart  and  reins,  that  he  may  see  whether  they 
will  take  care  of  them  or  not. 

If  you  will  examine  the  history  of  tyrannical  governments  you 
will  find  that'  any  person  who  dares  to  abuse  an  insane  man  or 
woman,  does  so  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life  The  common  people 
rise  in  arms  in  favor  of  the  insane,  and  put  down  all  who  insult  in- 
sanity. They  are  reasonably  fed  and  clothed,  even  where  kings 
and  monarchs  rule — then  why  should  this  enlightened  republic  let 
other  governments  outstrip  her  upon  the  most  important  subject  in 
the  world  ? 

Wo  be  to  that  nation  of  people  that  drink  down  the  blood  of  their 
insane.  The  man  that  would  cheat  and  defraud  insanity  would 
run  his  hand  into  the  pocket  of  a  dying  man,  and  filch  the  last  dollar 
therefrom,  and  affirm  it  to  be  his  ;  h,e  would  steal  from  the  dead  and 
dying.  'A  frightened  maniac  who  would  tear  out  his  own  eyes  is 
more  to  be  pitied  than  the  man  who  has  lost  a  limb.  Examine  all 
the  medical  books  and  histories  together,  with  every  other  authority 
derived  from  a  respectable  source,  and  you  will  not  find  the  first 
case  of  insanity  where  there  has  been  a  cure  performed  short  of  the 


TREATMENT. 


41 


friends  of  the  subject  taking  the  case  in  hands.  Insanity  sometimes 
lives  to  be  of  a  good  old  age  under  kind  treatment,  but  under  a  rigid 
course  of  maltreatment  it  cannot  live  longer  than  about,  a  middle 
age.  It  snatches  thousands  into  eternity,  whether  prepared  or  un- 
prepared. Time  and  tide  .wait  for  no  man  or  set  of  men  —  it  glides 
swiftly  on  its  wings.  If  God  gives  you  an  insane  spn  to-day,  this  is 
the  day  to  begin  to  take  care  of  him.  He  does  not  give  you  twenty  or 
thirty  years  to  maltreat  in  ;  and  when  taken  into  eternity  either  by 
natural  or  accidental  death,  he  does  not  give  him  back  to  you 
that  you  might  have  the  credit  of  rendering  kind  treatment.  — 
Therefore  it  is  best  to  make  use  of  the  golden  moments  and  take 
care  of  them,  lest  they  might  slip  your  fingers.  If  I  was  a  judge 
of  a  court,  or  a  practitioner  of  the  law,  or  of  medicine,  and  I  could 
not  define  that  a  criminal  at  my  bar,  or  my  client  or  patient 
was  insane,  and  treat  him  accordingly,  I  would  quit  my  profession; 
and  if  I  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel  or  an  acting  justice  of  the 
peace,  if  I  could  not  define  that  a  soul  under  my  care  or  my 
neighbor  was  insane,  I  would  quit  the  ministry  or  throw  up  my 
commission. 

We  will  compare  the  man  that  labors  under  insanity,  to  a  'spoke 
in  a  wagon  wheel.  You  may  start  your  wagon  in*a  great  hurry- 
one  spoke  may  be  crazy  —  yo'u  rush  it  over  the  hills  and  stones— 
presently  out  flies  the  spoke.  You  drive  on  carelessly  —  after  a 
while  out  flies  the  second.  Well,  you  say  to  yourself,  you  will 
watch  for  the  third,  and  you  rush  along.  The  first  thing  you  know 
out  comes  the  third,  and  soon  after  down  comes  the  wheel  and  your 
wagon  is  broke  down.  You  are  then  in  a  nice  fix.  Just  so  in  the 
wheel  of  time  ;  every  soul  fills  its  space  in  this  great  wheel  —  we 
may  be  counted  as  spokes  in  this  wheel  —  one  spoke  may  be  a  little 
crazy  —  you  may  gather  around  it  in  clans  and  abuseand  drive,  and 
the  first  thing  you  know  out.  flies  the  spoke  by  self  murder.  Well, 
you  say  to  yourselves,  we  will  watch  close  for  the  next  —  you  keep 
up  your  abusive  language,  and  presently  out  flies  the  second.  Well, 
you  say  to  yourselves,  we  most  assuredly  will  watch  for  the  next  — 
you  still  abusing.  The  first  thing  you  know  out  flies  the  third,  and 
when  this  occurs  it  comes  very  near  bringing  the  wheels  of  time  to 
a  close  on  your  heads.  They  are  all  gone  into  eternity  —  it  is 
impossible  to  get  them  bajck.  You  look  back  and  remember  the 
blessings  with  which  you  were  endowed  by  high  heaven,  and  by 
the  aid  of  which  you  might  have  healed  them  ;  and  when  it  is 
placed  entirely  out  of  your  power  to  discharge  the  duty  you  owe  to 
your  unfortunate  fellow  beings,  to  yourselves  'and  your  Creator,  you 
feel  quite  uncomfortably  situated  ;  and  when  you  remember  the 
kind  treatment  that  others  have  received  at  the  hands  of  their 
friends  and  relations,  who  were  in  a  like  condition,  and  how  care- 
ful they  have  been  to  take  care  of  them,  and  who  are  still  healing 
and  teaching  them,  and  you  in  the  meantime  drinking  the 


42*  INSANITY. 

blood  of  yours  for  your  maltreatment,  it  pays  you  up  well  for  your 
smartness. 

We  will  compare  it  again  to  the  corner  stones  of  a  wall.  A  half 
dozen  stout  men  may  gather  around  the  first  stone  and  prize  about 
until  they  get  it  out,  and  when  it  is  out  you  cannot  get  it  back  to  its 
proper  place.  Just  so  with  the  second,  third  and  fourth,  and  when 
the  corner  stones  are  taken  away,  the  walls  cannot  stand  long.  At 
first  one  or  two  stones  fall — the  number  gradually  increases,  until 
finally,  the  whole  wall  comes  with  a  crash.  Mten  in  affluent  cir- 
cumstances and  of  the  first  standing  in  society,  might  be  considered 
among  the  corner  stones  of  the  human  family.  A  hint  to  the  wise 
is  sufficient.  If  men  are  guilty  of  crime,  I  would  recommend  having 
them  brought  up  before  the  authorities  and  try  them,  and  if  they 
are  sane  and  adjudged  to  be  guilty,  you  may  prepare  the  gallows  or 
place  them  in  your  \vorking  institutions,  according  to  the  grade  of 
crime.  If,  however,  the  criminal  is  insane,  you  should  place  him, 
in  an  institution  to  be  healed  and  protected  from  any  further  crime. 
The  most  efficient  medical  aid  in  your  reach  should  be  applied  to  in 
such  cases,  and  they  should  decide  upon  the  existence  or  non- 
existence  of  aberration  of  mind,  without  prejudice,  or  partiality, 
which  any  real*  medical  man  would  do.  Quacks  should  not  be 
called  on  in  cases  of  importance — keep 'every  spoke  and  corner  stone 
in  its  proper  place  in  due  time,  then  the  wheels  of  time  glide  smooth- 
ly on,  and  the  balance  of  the  wall  stands  firm.  It  is  not.  a  common 
thing  to  labor  under  insanity  and  be  treated  kindly.  God  pity  the 
condition  of  the  soul  that  labors  under  this  awful  malady  whose 
friends  maltreat  it. 

We  will  again  compare  the  man  who  labors  under  insanity,  to 
the  young  man  in  the  tombs  cutting  himself  with  stones,  whom  no 
man  could  tame: — no,  not  even  with  fetters — until  he  was  healed 
by  the  Son  of  God.  He  was  not  abused  by  this  good  Sama- 
ritan, but  wa's  looked  upon  by  him  as  an  object  of  compassion 
and  mercy. 

We  will  again  compare  the  insane,  to  the  young  man  that  went 
down  to  Jericho  and  fell  among  theives,  was  robbed  of  every  thing 
he  had,  stripped  of  his  raiment,  beaten  and  left  half  dead.  A  Jew 
passed  by  on  one  side  and  a  Levite  on  the  other,  and  left  the  young 
man  laying  in  blood  and  gore.  A  Samaritan  passed  that  way  and 
took  him  up,  carried  him  to  an  inn,  paid  the  two  pence  that  was 
requisite,  and  had  him  healed.  By  this  act,  he  saved  the  life  of  the 
young  man,  and  thereby  became  his  Lord,  and  no  doubt  won  the 
applause  of  all  good  men,  and  was  rewarded  by  the  Father  of  the 
good  Samaritan,  who  healed  the  young  man  in  the  tombs  by  re- 
ceiving at  his  hands  blessings  of  both  a  spiritual  and  temporal 
nature.  It  seems  that  the  Jews  and  Levites  were  the  class  of 
people  that  passed  by  the  writer  for  several  years.  The  good 
Samaritan  never  took  him  up  or  led  him  out  of  the  tombs,  until 


TREATMENT. 


43 


t  was  ten  years  too  late.     It  is  best  to  act  as  Samaritans  in  such 
cases. 

The  physician  and  friends  of  the  unfortunate  sufferer  should  be 
very  careful  not  to  let  the  patient  undergo  sudden  changes  of  heat 
or  cold,  but  keep  them  in  an  uninterrupted  and  calm  repose  ;  bath- 
ing in  warm  water  and  washing  with  clear  soap  occasionally,  is  an 
excellent  remedy ;  and   shower   bathing,  say    once  a   day,  if  the 
weather  is  not  too  cold,  is  also  a  fine  remedy  for  this  disease.    Where 
you  are  not  prepared  with  bathing  tubs  or  reservoirs,  you  can  very 
easily  place  the  patient  in  a  chair  and  pgur  \mter  slowly  on  the 
forehead,  which  will  extend  over  the  body  until  the  patient  is  rea- 
sonably* bathed.     In  the  meantime  keep  the  body  covered  with  a 
blanket,  so  as  to  prevent  a  sudden  change  from  heat  to  cold.     You 
should   not  use  the  cold  bath   while  giving  mercury  or  calomel. 
However,  but  very  little  of  this  kind  of  medicine  should  be  used, 
and  when  it  is,  it  should  be  administered  in  very  small  portions 
and  preceded  with  an  emetic.     From  ten  to  fifteen  grains  of  calo- 
mel in   a  dose  is  sufficient  for  any  case  of  insanity  ;  even  in  the 
most  robust  constitutions  fifteen  grains  is  a  sufficiency,  and  by  all 
means  never  rise  twenty  in  any  case.     Let  the  calomel  be  followed 
by  oil  or  salts,  sanative  pills,  such  as  Peters',  and  '.tonics  and  stimu- 
lant medicines.     The  use  of  mercury  is  seldom  or  never  necessary, 
and  when  it  is  used  it  should  be  used  with  great  caution.     In  cases 
attended  with  much  heat  about. the  scalp,  flushing  of  the  face  and 
strong  pulsation,  blood  letting  would  be  necessary,  but  not  too  freely. 
Of  the  quantity  you  must  be  governed  by  the  condition  of  the  pa- 
tient.   .The  lancet  should  be  resorted  to,  especially  where  the  disease 
is  accompanied  with  epilepsy.     Where  there  is  much  heat,  it  would 
be  proper  to  shave  the  head  and  keep  it  cool  by  means  of  cold  lo- 
tions or  an  oil  skin  cap  filled  with  ice  or  iced  water.     If  the  symp- 
toms above  mentioned  are  very  acute  and   the  patient  is  not  in  an 
alarming  condition,  blisters  to  the  occiput  or  nape  of  the  neck  are 
often  serviceable.     When  the  scalp  is  not  hot,  and  the  tendency  is 
rather  to  stupor  than  to  a  high  degree  of  excitement,  blisters  are 
usefully  applied  on  the  top  of  the  head  ;  but  do  not  blister  to  death — 
there  is  reason  in f all  things.     Bathe  the  legs  and  feet  in  a  warm 
infusion  of  mustard  or  horse  radish.     In  the  mean  time  do  not  for- 
get to  give  the  patient  light,  nutritious  diet,  and  as  the  patient  im- 
proves, meats  may  be  allowed,  with  some  porter  or  ale.     The  phy- 
sician or  nurse  should  be  the  judge  of  the  quantity. 

In  the  fatal  progress  that  the' disease  has  made  upon  my  system, 
it  was  accompanied  with  fits  of  epilepsy.  1  have  had  them  some- 
times every  day,  sometimes  every  other  day,  and  again  every  third 
day.  I  have  even  had  as  many  as  twenty  in  a  day — but  regularly 
every  four  weeks,  or  at  the  change  of  the  moon.  When  I  had  one 
of  those  fits  on  me,  I  knew  no  more  what  I  was  doing  than  if  I  had 
been  dead,  and  when  they  would  pass  off- 1  would  be  in  a  tolerably 
calm,  reposed  condition.  I  was  afflicted  with  them,  to  a  greater  or 

C 


• 

INSANITT. 

less  extent,  from  the  age  of  fifteen  years  up  to  the  time  I  was  brought 
here,  in  the  transaction  of  a  heavy  business  the  principal  part  of  the 
time,  and  suffered  a- reverse  of  fortune  which  made  my  condition 
more  critical.  I  was. much  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather,  and  was  not  permitted  by  those  who  had  me  in  their  power 
to. have  time  to  be  healed. 

If  a  man  be  taken  suddenly  sick,  he  and  every  thing  he  has  is  in 
the  hands  of  his  friends,  physicians  and  his  God ;  and  if  he  is  in- 
sane and  they  take  .a  notion  to  have  him  healed,  or  suffer  him  to 
kill  himself,  they  soon  have  it  done.  You  should  apply  to  the  most 
efficient  medical  aid  in  your  reach  in  such  cases  and  act  with  great 
caution.  You  had  just  as  well  administer  a  dose  of  arsenic  to  a 
man  as  a  large  dose  of  calomel  in  a  case  of  insanity.  A  quack 
doctor  will  soon  destroy  an  insane  patient.  If  a  physician  cannot 
define  that  his  patient  is  insane  and  treat  him  accordingly,  he  should 
not  be  allowed  to  practice  medicine. 

It  requires  close  discrimination  to  define  sanity  from  insanity.  It 
may  be  detected  by  the  subject  becoming  restless — he  frequently 
walks  the  floor  for  an  hour  at  a  time,  sits  down  for  a  few  moments 
and  then  walks  again.  In  some  instances  they  walk  the  floor  a 
half  or  the  whole  of  a  night  without  sleeping.  They  sometimes 
become  peevish  and  fretful — seem  to  be  careless  and  indolent,  and 
seem  to  be  sinking  into  a  state  of  despondency.  In  other  cases  they 
use  excessive  energy  in  their  daily  avoca'ions  and  pursuits  of  life. 
They  frequently  become  flighty  and  unstable  in  all  their  ways  ;  and 
if  you  are  conversing  on  the  subject  of  insanity,  and  an  insane  per- 
son is  present,  you  will  see  them  get  up  and  walk  off;  they  do  not 
like  to  hear  the  subject  mentioned.  Nothing  escapes  their  observa- 
tion— they  notice  every  thing  that  passes  and  store  it  in  memory, 
good  or  evil,  for  or  against  you,  according  to  the  treatment  they  re- 
ceive at  your  hands.  The  subject  is  irritable  and  sleepless,  and  not 
unfrequently  frightened  out  of  one  dose  of  sleep  into  another — runs 
on  and  talks  nonsensically,  and  when  accompanied  with  worms,  as 
is  frequently  the  case,  you  will  notice  them  picking  the  nose,  hair 
and  clothes  with  their  fingers,  and  become  frightened  at  the  crack- 
ing of  a  stick  that  they  may  tread  upon,  supposing  it  be  a  serpent, 
and  are  easily  frightened  at  any  noise.  Worms  are  not  uncommon, 
even  with  adult  persons,  attended  with  fever  or  flushness  of  .the  face 
and  sometimes  with  spots:  they  become  thirsty  and  drink  water  in 
large  quantities. 

Parents  should  be  careful  to  set  good  examples  before  their 
insane,  for  they  know  no  better  than  to  live  up  to  the  examples 
set  before  them  by  those  in  whom  they  place  confidence.  If  a  case 
of  insanity  occurs  in  your  land  and  nation,  just  as  you  treat  it 
just  that  way  you  may  expect  to  be  treated  by  the  subject  and  your 
Creator.  If  you  treat  it  kindly  an  all-wise  providence  will  reward 
you  by  filling  your  barns 'and  store-houses  with  plenty,  but  if  you 
maltreat  and  lead  it  to  a  premature  end,  he  will  reward  you  by 


TREATMENT. 


45 


sending  judgments  and  curses  upon  your  heads.  Some  persons  are 
of  the  opinion  that  we  will  all  be  marshalled  at  the  bar  of  God, 
there  to  render  testimony  against  each  other.  It  is  all  humbug.  He 
needs  no  testimony — He  knows  all  things.'  He  sometimes  makes 
use  of  the  unfortunate  by  which  to  judge  the  world.  He  is  sitting 
in  judgment  always — He  judges  men  of  their  acts  as  they  commit 
them.  The  judgment  day  is  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever — from 
tfye  beginning  to  the  end  of  time.  There  will  be  a  last  day— a 
doom's  day — a  final  end  of  all  things ;  when  it  shall  be  said,  Come 
ye,  my  blessed,  enter  into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord  ;  or  Depart,  ye  ac- 
cursed, into  everlasting  punishment,  prepared  for  the  Devil,  from 
the  foundation  of  the  world. 

The  world  was  once  destroyed  by  a  flood  of  water,  and  but  eight 
souls  saved,  namely,  Noah  and  his  family.  Thq  next  time  it  is  des- 
troyed it  will  be  destroyed  by  a  flood  of  fire  in  one  general  confla- 
gration, and  it  is  nice  to  suppose  the  kind  of  fire.  The  common 
fire  you  have  in  your  fire-places  is  a  blessing  sent  you  by  an  all-wise 
God,  by  which  you  might  take  an  insane  son  or  brother  and  have 
him  healed  or  taken  care  of,  and  he  might  live  many  years  under 
kind  treatment.  Hell  fire  is  a  few  degrees  warmer  than  the  com- 
mon fire,  and  is  heated  with  the  fuel  of  brimstone,  and  when  you 
drive  your  insane  from  your  fireside  conversations,  you  sometimes 
drive  them  into  this  hell  fire.  But  mark  ye,  you  are  not  many 
strides  behind  them,!  What  an  awful  wo  to  hear  the  sentence 
read  out,  Depart,  ye  game-makers  and  swindlers  of,  and  declaimers 
against  insanity,  into  this  everlasting  flame  of  fire,  from  whence 
there  is  no  return  ! 

Since  I  have  been  here  there  have  bee.n  six  deaths  out  of  the  whole 
number  of  inmates — four  males  and  two  females — and  in  the  mean- 
time about  sixteen  cures  have  been  performed.  The  healed  patients 
have  gone  home,  and  I  am  told  are  doing  well.  Some  of  them  have 
even  gone  to  healing  others,  and  I  am  here  trying  to  teach  you 
how  to  heal  each  other.  Others  are  rapidly  improving,  and  will, 
no  doubt,  soon  be  dismissed  from  the  institution.  The  whole  num- 
ber of  patients  is  from  seventy  to  eighty.  I  noticed  that  those  cases 
which  terminated  in  death  were  too  far  gone  when  brought  here 
to  be  healed.  Perhaps  if  they  had  been  brought  here  by  their 
friends  in  time,  they  might  have  been  healed  and  been  useful  mem- 
bers of  society  for  years  to  come. 

As  to  sex,  insanity  more  frequently  occurs  with  females  than  with 
males — for  which  cause  I  can  only  account  from  the  fact  that  the 
female  is  the  weaker  vessel.  At  any  rate  they  are  more  subject  to 
become  excited,  and  suffer  their  passions  to  control  their  better  judg- 
ment. My  views,  are  founded  on  general  observation.  When  in- 
sanity occurs  in  females  it  is  more  frequently  with  married  women, 
which  might  be  termed  puerperal,  or  a  form  of  mental  derangement 
incident,  to  women  soon  after  child-birth.  Symptoms  of  insanity 
often  display  themselves  during  pregnancy,  and  under  circumstan- 


INSANITY. 


ces  which  indicate  that  they  are  dependant  on  that  state.     These 
cases  are  rare  in  comparison  to  those  which  occur  after  delivery. 

Many  females  become  deranged  during  the  advanced  period  of 
lactation,  especially  those  of  irritable  temperament,  and  such  as 
undertake  to  suckle  their  children  too  long  in  reference  to  their 
constitutions.  Cases  of  puerperal  madness,  properly  so  termed,  or 
that  coming  on  after  child-birth,  are  by  no  means  unfrequent. 
There  is  no  peculiarity  in  the  phenomena  of  puerperal  madness  by 
which  this  disease  is  distinguished  from  other  examples  of  insanity. 
Those  cases  which  are  more  properly  termed  puerperal,  as  occurring 
in  the  first  period  after  child-birth,  are  generally  of  the  character  of 
mania.' attended  with  excitement  of  the  feelings  and  menial  derange- 
ment, while  the  disorder  which  displays  itself  in  women  exhausted 
by  suckling  is  most  commonly  connected  with  melancholy  depres- 
sion ;  a  tendency  to  which  may  be  generally  perceived  in  females 
who  nurse  their  children  too  long  with  regard  to  their  strength  of 
constitutions.  Cases  of  the  former  description  occur  writhin  a  short 
period,  and  most  frequently  from  twelve  to  fifteen  days  after  delivery. 
They  appear  sometimes  to  be  occasioned  by  fright  or  other  acciden- 
tal causes  of  disturbance ;  sometimes  by  error  in  diet  or  by  prema- 
ture exertion  or  excitement.  In  other  instances  they  take  place 
independently  of  any  discernable  cause.  The  patient  passes  two  or 
three  restless  nights — appears  to  be  unusually  excited  and  irritable — 
talks  loudly  and  incessantly,  and  very  sooft  betrays  a  disturbed 
intellect.  The  attack  is  often  attended  with  febrile.  Symptoms  of 
mania  are  not  uncommon  in  the  course  of  the  month,  but  of  that 
species  from  which  they  generally  recover.  When  out  of  their 
senses  and  attended  with  fever,  they  will  in  all  probability  die,  but 
when  without  fever  it  is  not  fatal. 

Puerperal  madness  terminates,  in  a  great  proportion,  either  in 
death  or  in  recovery.  Few,  comparatively  speaking,  become  cases  of 
insanity.  The  question,  on  the  solution  of  which  there  is  the  great- 
est reason  for  anxiety  in  reference  to  any  particular  case  of  puerperal 
madness,  is  whether  it  is  likely  to  be  fatal ;  because,  if  not.  fatal, 
there  is  great  probability  of  ultimate  recovery.  The  most  satisfac- 
tory way  of  coming  to  a  conclusion  on  this  inquiry  in  any  individual 
case,  is  by  the  prognostications  which  the  particular  symptoms  afford, 
and  on  this  subject  I  can  add  but  little  to  what  has  already  been 
said. 

The  principal  cause  which  endangers  life  in  cases  of  this  descrip- 
tion arises  from  extreme  debility.  The  excitement  of  the  muscular 
as  well  as  the  cerebral  functions  is  so  great  as  to  wear  out  the 
strength  already  at  a  low  ebb,  and  being  neither  recruited  by  nutri- 
tion or  by  sleep,  the  patient  sinks  from  exhaustion.*  Experience  has 
proved  that  a  rapid  circulation  is  the  principal  circumstance  which 
tends  to  bring  on  this  state  ;  a  very  frequent  pulse  is  the  most  un- 
favorable symptom.  Long  continued  resistance  to  sleep  and  a  state 
of  complete  stupor,  with  the  appearance  of  great  weakness  and  ex- 


'  s#  t\, 

TREATMENT.  47 

I  • '     f  '  t  •  •  <  r! 

haustion.  likewise  give  reasons  for  apprehension.  If  these  signs  are 
not  found,  the  mental  derangement  need  not  give  occasion  for  very 
serious  alarm.  The  Jesuit  seems  to  be  that  the  disease  is  more  fre- 
quently a  consequence  of  delivery  than  suckling. 

In  the  meanwhile  it  appears  evident  that  some  cause  more  in  its 
influence  than  one  particular  process  must  be  referred  to,  if  we  would 
explain  the  frequent  occurrence  in  pregnant,  puerperal  and  suckling* 
females.     The  only  attempt  to  explain  the  theory  whioh  deserves 
much  consideration,  is,  I  am  inclined  to  consider,  the  puerperal 
mania-  as  a  case  of  conversation  from,  during  gestation,  and  after 
delivery.     When  the  milk  begins  to  flow,  the  balance  of  the  circu-. 
lation  is  so  greatly  disturbed  as  to  be  liable  to  much  disorder  from 
the  application  of  any  existing  cause.     If,  therefore,  cold,  affecting 
violent  noises,  want  of  sleep,  or  uneasy  thoughts  distress  a  puerperal 
patient  before  a  determination  of  milk  to  the  breasts  is  regularly 
made,  the  impetus  may  be  regularly  converted  to  the  head  and  pro- 
duce either  hysteria  or  insanity,  according  to  its  force  and  the  na- 
ture of  the  occasional  cause.     That  new  determinations  in  the  vas- 
cular system  should  ensure  on  the  removal  of  one  so  long  subsisting 
as  that  to  the  uterus  during  pregnancy,  is  in  accordance  with  a  well- 
ascertained  principle  in  pathology.     The  natural  and  healthy  deter- 
mination under  these  circumstances  is  to  the  lacteal  glands,  but 
owing  to  various  causes,  either  external  or  of  predisposition,  mor- 
bid determinations  occasionally  take  place.     Some  women  become 
phthisical  at  a  very  early  period  after  child-birth,  or  rather  the  symp- 
toms of  phthisis  develope  themselves  at  that  time  in  a  manifest 
form.     Other  constitutional  complaints  are  apt  to  arise  at  the  same 
period,  according  to  the  prevalent  tendency  of  the  habit.     Where 
the  brain  is  susceptible  it  is  likely  to  suffer  in  its  turn  and  become 
the  seat  of  local  disorder.     The  manifestations  are  affections  of  the 
mind.     If  we  consider  the  frequent  changes  of  disturbances  occur 
ring  in  the  balance  of  the  circulation  from  the  varying  and  quickly 
succeeding  processes  which  are  carried  on  in  the  system  during  and 
soon  after  the  period  of  pregnancy  and   child-birth,  we  shall  be  at 
no  loss  to  discover  circumstances  under  which  a  susceptible  consti- 
tution is  likely  to  suffer. 

The  conversions  are  successive  in  the  temporal  or  local  determi- 
nations of  blood  which  the  constitution  under  such  circumstances 
sustains  and  requires,  and  appear  sufficiently  to  account  for  the 
morbid  susceptibility  of  the  brain.  The  cases  of  mental  disorder 
which  occur  in  the  latter  periods  of  lactation  are  evidently  of  two 
kinds.  In  one  the  disease  supervenes  on  weaning,  and  probably  has 
its  origin  in  the  subsidence  of  the  lacteal  secretion.  There  are  other 
instances  which  appear  to  arise  from  the  continual  excitement  and 
exhaustion  of  the  system  consequent  on  suckling.  This  state  of 
exhaustion  takes  place  at  different  periods  in  different  constitutions. 
Some  women  can  continue  to  give  milk  without  injury  for  years, 
but  by  others  morbid  feelings  are  experienced  in  the  space  of  a  few 


48  INSANITY. 

months,  and  do  not  subside  for  some  time  after  vvcuning.  I  have 
observed  some  instances,  of  melancholy  dejection  with  symptoms  of 
insanity  more  or  less  strongly  marked,  which  have  displayed  them- 
selves in  the  protracted  period  of  nursing,  and  in  females  who  were 
evidently  suffering  from  exhaustion. 

It  will  be  evident  that  our  chief  endeavors  must  bt>  directed  to 
the  present  support  of  life.  If  we  can  maintain  and  cstore  the 
•general  health  and  keep  the  natural  functions  in  a  state  compatible 
with  continued  existence  for  a  time,  the  disease  of  the  animal  sys 
tern  will,  in  all  probability,  subside.  Evacuant  remedies  must  be 
used  very  sparingly  and  with  great  caution.  The  most  emoJ«n1 
medical  aid  in  your  reach  should  be  applied  to  in  stich  cases.  Blood 
letting,  as  a  general  remedy  for  puerperal  madness  or  mania,  and 
also  in  those  cases  which  more  resemble  delirium  tremens,  is  seldom 
or  never  necessary,  but  generally  pernicious.  I  do  not  say  that  case* 
never  occur  which  require  this  remedy, 'but  T  would  lay  down  thi» 
rule  for  the  employment  of  the  lancet — not  to  use  it  as  a  remed} 
of  disorder  in  the  mind  unless  that  is  accompanied  by  symptoms  of 
congestion  or  inflammation  of  the  brain.  Local  is  safer  than  gene- 
ral in  the  real  inflammatory  diseases  of  the  brain — such  as  would 
lead  to  its  employment  though  the  mind  was  not  disordered.  Even 
here,  however,  great  caution  is  necessary.  Blood  letting,  of  course, 
is  essentially  necessary,  as  heretofore  mentioned  ;  but  these,  I  think, 
can  never  be  mistaken  for  puerperal  insanity.  They  are  febrile 
headaches — more  or  less  acute  pain  of  the  head,  which  is  a  much 
better  indication  for  blood  letting  than  disorder  of  the  mind  with 
out  these  symptoms.  In  cases  attended  with  much  heat  about 
the  scalp,  flowing  of  the  face,  and  strong  pulsation  of  the  tempo- 
ral and  carotid,  it  will  be  Proper  to  shave  the  head  and  keep  it 
cool  by  means  of  cold  lotions  or  an  oil  skin  cap  filled  with  iced 
or  ice  water,  as  heretofore  laid  down  under  the  head  of  treatment, 
of  insanity  in  general,  or  by  evaporating  lotions,  if  the  symptoms 
above  mentioned  are  very  acute,  and  the  debility  of  the  patient  is 
not  alarming. 

A  few  leeches  may  be  applied  ;  blisters  to  the  occiput  or  nape  of 
the  neck,  are  often  servicable  ;  when  the  scalp  is  not  hot  and  the 
tendency  of  the  disease  is  rather  to  stupor  than  to  a  high  degree  of 
excitement,  blisters  are  usefully  applied  on  the  top  of  the  head  ; 
heat  should  be  applied  in  the  most  convenient  form ;  the  lower  ex- 
tremities which  are  often  cold,  should  be  immersed  frequently  in  hot 
water,  or  bathe  the  feet  and  legs  in  a  warm  infusion  of  mustard  or 
horse  radish,  and  the  circulation  assisted  by  the  heat  in  the  other 
extremities  by  the  'nlost  obvious  means.  The  cold  shower  baths 
should  not  be  used  in  cases  of  puerperal  madness  or  mania,  but  ap- 
ply, at  intervals,  cloths  wet  in  cold  water  to  the  forehead. 

Purgatives  and  emetics  are  among  the  most  useful  remedies  in 
this  disease.  The  alimentary  canal  is  frequently  in  3.  disordered 
state — the  tongue  furred,  the  breath  foetid,  the  skin  discolored,  and 


TREATMENT. 


the  evacuations  dark  and  offensive.  A  few  brisk  purgative  doses 
of  calomel,  followed  by  castor  oil,  or  rhubarb  and  magnesia,  should 
be  given  in  such  rases  Emetics  of  epicachuana,  with  small  doses 
of  tarlarized  antimony,  are  very  valuable  remedies  in  this  state  of 
the  alimentary  canal ;  but  they  should  be  used  with  caution  when 
the  face  is  pale,  the  skin  cold,  and  pulse  quick  and  weak.'  Epicac- 
huana is  preferable  to  antimonials.  After  these  evacuant  remedies 
have  been  premised,  great  advantage  may  be  derived  from  the  use 
of.  opiates.  Full  doses  will  be  generally  attended  with  the  best  suc- 
cess. Ten  grains  of  Dover's  powders  may  be  given  at  night,  .or  a 
grain  and  a  half  of  solid  opium,  or  thirty  drops  of  the  tincture,  or 
Battley's  solution  of  opium,  in  preference  to  the  tincture.  Perhaps 
the  acetate  and  muriate  of  morphia  are  the  best  preparations  of 
opium.  They  may  be  given  in  doses  of  an  eighth  to  a  quarter  of  a 
grain,  and  repeat  every  third  or  fourth  hour  until  sleep  is  produced. 
When  the  opiates  disagree,  hyosciamus,  mixed  with  camphor,  (five 
grains  of  each.)  should  be  given  every  hour,  and  a  double  dose  at 
night:  a  drachm  of  the  tincture  will  answer  the  same  purpose.  I 
am,  however,  of  the  opinion  that  narcotics  are  the  most  valuable 
remedies ;  they  often  produce  nights  of  better  sleep,  and  days  of 
greater  tranquillity,  and  this  calmness  is  followed  by  some  clearing 
up  of  the  disorder  of  the  mind.  If,  however,  heat  is  in  the  head, 
and  flushing  in  the  face,  their  use  ought  to  be  postponed  until  such 
symptoms  shall  have  been  removed.  In  the  more  protracted  cases 
of  puerperal  mania,  tonics  and  stimulant  medicines  are  sometimes 
requisite,  especially  when  the  appetite  has  failed.  Ammonia  is 
quite  recommendable — it  may  be  given  with  an  infusion  of 
Peruvian  bark  or  any  bitter  infusion.  When  it  is  not  offensive 
to  the  stomach,  the  rectified  oil  of  turpentine  is  one  of  the 
best  stimulants,  especially,  if  it  be  taken  In  a  dose  of  a  drachm 
three  times  a  day,  with  cinnamon  water  or  any  other  aromatic 
fluid.  • 

A  rule  of  great  importance  refers  to  the  diet  of  women  in  puer- 
peral insanity.  It  may  perhaps  be  safely  asserted  that  the  greatest 
risk  with  patients  in  thia  disease  is  that  of  being  starved  through 
the  mistaken  notions  of  their  attendants,  who  are  too  often  disposed 
to  consider  the  excitement  of  maniacal  disease  as  a  reason  for  with- 
holding food,  when  this  very  state,  owing  to  the  exhaustion  pro 
duced  by  its  long  continuance,  renders  it  especially  necessary 
to  support  the  strength  more  carefully.  Farinacious  fluids  of 
a  nutritious  kind,  milk,  rice,  and  other  such  matters,  at  short 
intervals,  when  febrile  symptoms  preclude  the  use  of  animal 
food.  In  most  instances  broth  may  be  allowed  and  ought  to  be 
given.  In  the  more  protracted  periods,  solid  meat,  with  ale,  should 
be  given. 

Maniacal  patients,  laboring  under  great  weakness  and  exhaustion, 
with  cold  extremities,  a  clammy  skin,  passing  restless  and  sleepless 
nights,  and  under  continual  agitation,  begin  to  improve  as  soon  as 

4 


50  INSANITY. 

i 

their  diet  is  changed ;  and  when  meat,  with  some  ale  or  porter  is 
given,  the  pulse  will  become  fuller  and  less  frequent,  the  ex- 
tremities warm,  sleep  will  be  restored,  and  convalescence  will 
take  place  in  a  surprisingly  short  time  after  such  a  system  has 
been  adopted. 

The  last  observation  to  be  made  refers  to  the  management  of  such 
patients.  We  must  here  advert  to  the  remarks  to  be  found  in  for- 
mer pages  on  the  management  and  treatment .  of  insane  patients  in 
general.  The  general  rules  only  require  modification  in  some  par- 
ticulars in  relation  to  puerperal  women  ;  they  require  in  other  re- 
spects similar  treatment.  They  should  be  separated  from  their  re- 
lations and  carefully  attended  to  by  persons  who  are  fitted  for  the 
occu  pation  by  profession  or  habit.  It  is  not  so  often  necessary  to 
send  puerperal  maniacs  to  lunatic  asylums  as  deranged  persons  of  a 
different  description.  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  add  any  thing  more 
upon  the  treatment,  only  to  cite  the  reader  from  one  to  the  other  on 
treatment  of  insanity  in  general  and  puerperal  insanity. 

Some  men  who  labor  under  this  awful  malady  fall  dead  in  their 
tracks,  without  making  use  of  any  weapons  by  which  they  might 
put  an  end  to  their  existence.  The  usual  course  is  to  bury  them. 
In  nine  cases  out  of  every  ten  you  bury  a  living  soul.  If  you  would 
spring  to  them  with  medical  aid  and  treat  them  kind.y,  you  might 
bring  them  to,  and  the'y  might  live  for  several  years  in  a  state  of  in- 
sanity under  kind  treatment,  and  tell  you  of  a  great  many  things 
that  you  never  thought  or  heard  of  before.  The  man  who  labors 
under  insanity  and  falls  dead  in  his  tracks,  apparently,  to  the  by- 
standers, is  not  really  dead  ;  he  is  dead  for  a  time,  and  insensible  of 
every  thing  that  is  going  on  while  in  this  condition. 

In  giving  a  Description  of  Insanity,  we  will  first  give  that  of 
moral  insanity.  « 

1.  IVibrai  insanity,  or  madness,  consisting  in  morbid  perversion  of 
the  natural  feelings,  affections,  inclinations,  temper,  habits,  moral 
disposition  and  natural  impulses,  without  any  remarkable  disorder 
or  defect  of  the  intellect  or  knowing  and  reasoning  faculties,  and 
particularly  without  any  insane  allusion  or  hallucination. 

The  three  following  modifications  of  trie*  disease  may  be  termed 
intellectual  insanity,  in  contradistinction  to  the  preceding  form  : 

1.  Monomania,  or  partial  insanity,  in  which  the  understanding 
is  partially  deranged  or  under  the  influence  of  some  particular  illu- 
sion, referring  to  one  subject  and  involving  one  train  of  ideas,  while 
the  intellectual  powers  appear,  when  exercised  on  the  subject,  to  be 
in  a  gr^h  measure  unimpaired. 

2.  Mania,  or  raving  madness,  in  which  the  understanding  is  gen- 
erally deranged.     The  reasoning  faculty  is  not  lost,  but  is  confused 
and  disturbed  in  its  exercise.     The  mind  is  in  a  state  of  morbid  ex- 
citement, and  the  individual  talks  absurdly  on  every  subject  to  which 
his  thoughts  are  momentarily  directed. 

.  3.  Incoherence  or  Dementia.     By  some  persons  it  may  be  thought 


TREATMENT.  51 

scarcely  correct  to  term  this  a  form  of  insanity,  as  it  has  been  gen- 
erally considered  as  a  result  and  sequel  of  that  disease.  In  some  in- 
stances, however,  mental  derangement  has  nearly  this  character 
from  the  commencement,  or  at  least  assumes  it  at  a  very  early 
period.  I  am,  therefore,  justified  in  stating  it  to  be  a  distinct  form 
of  madness. .  Its  features  are.  rapid  succession  or  interrupted  alter- 
nation of  insulated  ideas,  repeated  acts  of  extravagance,  complete 
forgetfulness  to  every' previous  occurrence,  diminishing  sensibility  to 
external  impressions,  abolition  of  the  faculty  of  judgment,  perpetual 
activity. 

The  division  of  the  forms. of  insanity  pointed  out  in  the  preceding, 
description,  is  the  most  simple  that  is  admissible  or  adapted  to  the 
existing  varieties  of  the  disease.  It  is  entirely  practical.  The  dis- 
orders of  the  mind  are  limited  in  number  and  kind  by  the  diversities 
which  exist  in  the  operations  of  the  mental  faculties.  The  mental 
operations  are  of  three  distinct  kinds,  and  are  referred,  on  the  testi- 
mony of  consciousness,  .to  three  different  departments  in  our  inward 
nature,  viz  :  To  those  of  the  feeling  or  sentiment,  the  understanding 
and  the  will ;  the  emotions — grief,  pleasure  and  the  mental  precesses 
of  reflection  and  contemplation,  and  the  voluntary  act  of  self-de- 
termination, are  three  kinds  of  mental  phenomena,  which,  as  they 
present  themselves  to  our  inward  consciousness,  are  so  clearly  and 
strongly  distinguished  fijpm  each  other  that  it  is  impossible  to  confound 
them  if  the  cause  of  derangement  is  in  relation  to  one  of  these  mani- 
festations of  mental  existence.  To  one  or  another  it  belongs,  since 
the  mind  is  ever  occupied  with  phenomena  related  to  one  out  of  the 
three  classes.  We  have  only  to  inquire  to  what  modification  the 
disorder  directly  refers  itself,  or  whether  it  affects  the  feeling,  the 
understanding  or  the  will,  since  one  of  these  has  possession  of  our 
consciousness,  or  is  at  least  predominant  at  every  point  of  time. 
Whichever  function  of  the  mind  happens  to  be  that  which  is  falling 
into  disorder,  by  it  the  form  of  insanity  is  determined.  Thus  we 
havQi  three  classes  of  mental  disease  corresponding  to  the  three  de- 
partments of  our  minds.  A  second  distinction  is  founded  on  the 
character  of  disturbance  which  is  experienced — whether  it  is  of  the 
nature  of  exaltation  or  depression,  of  increased  or  diminished. 

I  shall  simply  enumerate  the  principal  modification* of  the  de- 
rangement of  the  mind,  or  of  its  diseases  and  defects,  according  to 
the  method  of  Dr.  Prichard.  I  will  use  his  own  words  : — 

The  first  division  consists,  as  above  stated,  in  disorders  of  passion, 
feeling  or  affection,  or  moral  disposition.  This  has  two  forms,  viz : 

First  form — Exaltation  or  excessive  intensity— undue  vehemence 
of  feeling — morbid  violence  of  passions  and  emotions. 

Second  form — Depression. 

The  second  division  consists  of  disorders  affecting  the  under- 
standing or  the  intellectual  faculties. 

First  form :  Exaltation — undue  intensity  of  the  imagination,  pro 


55S  INSANITY. 

ducing  mental  illusions.  To  this  head  belong  all  the  varieties  of 
monomania. 

Second  form  :  Depression — feebleness  of  conception  of  ideas  and 
imbecility  of  the  understanding. 

The  third  division  comprises  disorder-  of  the  voluntary  powers,  or 
of  propensities  and  will. 

First  form  :  Exaltation — violence  of  will  and  propensities — toll- 
heit,  or  madness  without  lesion  of  the  understanding. 

Second  form  :  Depression — weakness  or  incapacity  of  will — moral 
imbecility. 

.  To  these  annexed  forms  the  reader  will  be  much  aided  in  defining 
the  different  causes  that  produce  the  disease,  as  laid  down  under  the 
first  head  of  Insanity. 

Hail,  Columbia !  my  native  land ! 

Ye  free  born  sons  of  Columbia,  hail ! 
In  your  nearest  sister  towns  I  once  did  stand; 

But  when  misfortunes  came  my  heart  did  fail. 
Those  towns  have  in  them  all  many  noble*  sons, 

And  their  fair,  superior  daughters  are  not  a  few ; 
But  the  sons  of  Palestine  were  once  my  choice  brothers. 

They  became  quite  wrathy  when  I  was  compelled  to  sue. 

If  wrongs  to  them  I  have  done, 

They'll  pray  forgive  them  alt  or  none. 

Their  wrongs  to  me  I  have  forgiven, 

And  I  am  willing  they  should  get  to  Heav%n. 

When  by  the  plough  I  did  thrive, 

I  would  either  hold  or  drive ; 

When  it  I  did  lay  aside  and  went  to  cutting  tape, 

That  day's  work  wrought  up  for  me  my  eternal  fate 


•i\  ..-.-•.•  «rti»  .f."?^. 

».jw*  ^-*«»>; 

_ 


• . .     -•" 


GENERAL   REMARKS, 


INSANITY  is  sometimes  termed  lunacy,  from  the  fact  of  the  disease 
being  accompanied  witfe  fits  of  epilepsy  (as  heretofore  mentioned) 
every  four  weeks,  or  change  of  the  moon  (Luna.)  Insane  people 
are  sometimes  termed  lunatics  from  the  fact  tha't  they  are  inmates  of 
a  lunatic  asylum.  Again,  they  are  occasionally  termed  hmatics;when 
the  disease  is  accompanied  with  raving  madness.  There  are  va- 
rious terms  for  it,  but  all  diseases  of  the  mind  might  be  justly  termed 
insanity  and  idiocy.  Some  persons  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  their 
neighbors  to  take  care  of  their  insane ;  but  that  is  not  their  duty. 
They  can  see  the  duty  of  other  persons  in  such  cases,  but  cannot 
see  their  own.  It  is  equally  binding  upon  every  man  and  woman 
to  take  care  of  the  insane  offspring  of  their  bodies.  If  I  was  blessed 
with  proper  reflecting  mental  faculties  and  bodily  health,  there  is 
not  a  man  on  the  face  of  God's  earth  that  should  outstrip  me  in  tak- 
ing care  of  an  insafce  son,  brother,  or  relation.  I  would  have  them 
healed,  taught  and  taken  care  of,  or  I  would  work  day  and  night 
and  live  upon  bread  and  water  rather  than  see  my  insane  suffer. 
It  is  no  difference  whether  it  be  male  or  female — it  should  be  your 
first  duty  to  provide  for  the  wants  of  your  insane. 

Some  persons  stand  opposed  to  pronounce  their  relatives  insane, 
rendering  as  an  excuse  that  they  might  receive  thereby  a  stain  upon 
their  characters.  That  is  not  reajly  the  cause.  The  great  secret  is, 
they  fear  that  their  afflicted  relatives  might  eat  a  little  of  their  meat 
and  bread,  wear  some  clothing,  or  that  a  medical  bill  might  have  to 
be  paid.  If  you  cannot  account  for  all  those  duties  towards  your 
insane  in  this  life,  you  cannot  account  for  yourselves  or  them  in  the 
life  to  come.  It  is  expected  of  every  family  to  account  for  their 
own  insane  in  some  way  or  other.  It  is  also  the  duty  of  the  min- 
isters of  the  Gospel  to  attend  to  those  things — to  see  if  there  be  any 
such  persons  in  the  bounds  of  their  station,  circuit  or  location,  and 
deal  with  them  as  stewards  of  the  Lord,  that  they  may  be  ready  to 
account  for  their  stewardship  as  faithful  servants  of  the  Most  High 
at  hb  coming.  Judges  of  courts  are  held  equally  responsible, 
together  with  acting  justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs,  constables  and 

53 


54  GENERAL    REMARKS. 

coroners.  Medical  men  are  held  awfully  responsible ;  they  offer 
their  services  to  the  public  as  healers  of  all  diseases  that  befalls  the 
lot  of  man.  There  are,  perhaps,  some  of  the  community  in  some 
parts  of  this  State,  from  the  prejudice  heretofore  cherished  in  their 
hearts  against  me,  may  use  their  influence  against  this  work  and, 
try  to  crush  it  to  the  earth.  I  will  just  request  the  reader,  if  they 
should  take  this  stand,  to  ask  them  if  they  could  walk  one  hundred 
yards  or  ride  three  or  four  miles,  in  1839,  and  pronounce  their 
patient  (the  writer)  insane,  and  treat  him  according  to  the  rules 
heretofore  laid  down  under  the  head  of  treatment  in, cases  of  insanity, 
instead  of  pouring  into  my  System  from  thirty  to  sixty  grains  of 
calomel  at  one  dose,  and  thereby  destroying  my  constitution  and 
mental  faculties,  and  becoming,  indirectly  speaking,  my  murderers 
instead  of  my  healers,  and  left  me  sinking  under  their  rigid  course 
of  treatment,  for  which  I  paid  them  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  They,  however,  in  the  meantime,  rendered  some  medical 
services  to  my  family.  By  pursuing  the  firmer  course  they  could 
have  healed  me — but  the  reader  will  remember  it  has  been  six 
years  since  1839.  If  they  should  have  an  insane  patient  in  1849, 
and  they  will  pursue  the  course  of  treatment  given  in  this  book, 
they  will  heal  nine  cases  out  of  every  ten  ;  but  if  they  pursue  the 
same  rigid  course  that  they  did  in  1839,  they  will  kill  nine  out  often. 
Farmers,  mechanics  and  others,  who  have  not  made  the  subject  of  in- 
sanity their  study , if  they  should  be  at  a  loss  to  know  whether  they  should 
be  governed  by  the  rules  herein  laid  down  in  case  of  insanity,  I  would 
ask  them  to  refer  to  a  real  medical  man,  and  be  certain  that  he  is  a 
real  medical  man  before  they  are  governed  by  his  opinion.  There 
may  be  some  objections  raised  upon  the  ground  that  the  author  is  a 
suicide.  This  rigid  course  of  maltreatment  was  the  forerunner  of 
suicide.  Down,  down,  down  with  a  rigid  course  of  treatment  and 
abusive  language,  and  up.  up,  up  with  kind  treatment  and  mild 
means  in  cases  of  insanity.  The  latter  course  must  prevail  if  the 
mental  powers  are  restored.  1  do  not  allude,  in  this  remark,  to  the 
management  in  lunatic  asylums,  for  they  know  how  to  treat  their 
patients — but  I  drop  it  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  not  blessed 
with  those  institutions,  and  who  undertake  to  heal  their  friends  at 
home.  To  treat  a  case  of  insanity  is  not  to  treat  it  with  ardent 
spirits,  for  accursed  is  he  that  turneth  up  the  bottle  to  his  neighbor's 
mouth,  but  it  is.to  have  it  healed. 

.  Some  men  are  very  tenacious,  as  above  stated,  with  regard  to 
their  own  characters,,  and  stand  opposed  to  pronouncing  their  friends 
insane,  lest  it  might  injure  their  characters  among  their  neighbors. 
I  will  just  remark  that  if  it  injures  a  man's  character  to'-take  care  of 
his  insane,  I  would  not  have  the  character  that  such  neighbors  would 
give  rne  ;  they  could  not  run  after  me  fast  enough  to  give  me  a  cha- 
racter; and  if  they  should  give  it  to  me  I  would  give  it  back; 
therefore  they  would  lose  nothing  by  the  gift. 

Some  men  look  upon  it  as  a  credit  to  cheat  and  defraud  insanity 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  55 

and  even  sit  around  the  comers  of  business  houses  watching  for  au 
opportunity  to  catch  the  unfortunate  subject  off  his  guard  or  absent 
from  his  friends,  that  they  may  gore  him  deep  ;  and  when  they  have 
cheated  and  defrauded  him  out  of  a.large  plantation,  a  large  lot  of 
money,  a  fine  negro  fellow,  a  line  lot  of  goods,  a  fine  horse,  or  shaved 
a  valuable  lot  of  claims  at  from  twenty  to  thirty  per  centum  dis- 
count, when,  the  unfortunate  subject  does  not  know  the  value  of  a 
dollar,  they  think  they  have  done  something  very  great ;  they 
laugh  in  their  sleeves,  but  mark  ye,  it  will  take  to  itself  wings  and 
leave  them.  Ill-gotten  fame. or  wealth  will  take  its  flight  from  any 
man  in  the  course  of  time,  and  they  will  have  to  pay  dearly  for  it 
in  trie  world  to  come  ;  they  will  have  to  pay  up  the  utmost  farthing. 
You  evade  the  laws  of  your  country  in  such  cases,  but  when  you 
come  to  the  law  of  God  it  swings  you  up.  I  believe  it  would  be 
just  for  the  Legislatures  of  the  different  States  to  enact  a  law  to 
make  it  a  penitentiary  offence  for  a  sane  man  to  wilfully  and  know- 
ingly cheat  and  defraud  insanity — just  as  if  he  had  stolen  that 
amount.  It  should  also  be  a  criminal  offence  for  a  quack  doctor  to 
maltreat  his  insane  patient.  A  man's  life  is  worth  more  to  him  than 
all  the  money  in  the  world,  and  if  his  physician  should  poison  him 
to  death  with  great  gorges  of  medicine,  as  if  he  was  physicing  a 
horse,  he  should  be  made  to  suffer- in  the  same  way  and  manner  as 
though  he  had  plunged  a  dagger  to  his  heart. 

I  will  here  give  an  anecdote  that  once  occurred  in  a  city  between 
a  physician  and  a  stone-cutter.  The  doctor  was  accustomed  to  pass 
through  the  street  that  led  'by  the  stone-cutter's  shop  to  visit  his 
patients.  In  passing  one  morning  in  a  great  hurry,  he  accosted 
the  stone-cutter  as  he  was  busily  engaged  in  cutting  letters  on  a 
tomb-stone.  "Well,  sir,"  said  the  doctor^.  "I  suppose  you  cut  the 
letters  on  the  stone  until  you  get  to  the  words  '  in  memory  of,'  and 
then  wait  and  see  who  dies  before  you  cut  the  balance." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  stone-cutter,  "  except  with  your  patients  ; 
with  them  I  go  right  on,  for  I  know  a  tomb-stone  will  be  shortly 
required." 

This  would  be  applicable  to  the  medical  man  who  pursues  a  rigid 
course  of  maltreatment,  and  administers  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
grains  of  calomel  to  his  insane  patient  in  twenty-four  hours.  In. 
such  cases  the  stone-cutter,  cabinet-maker,  nnd  sexton,  may  all  go 
right  on,  for  the  poor  patient  will  be  laid  in  his  grave  in  a  very  short 
time. 

The  mind  is  composed  of  five  different  attributes,  to  wit,  the  five 
senses — seeing,  hearing,  smelling,  taste  and  feeling  ;  and  if  you  lose 
the  use  of  one  of  the  members  of  your  mind,  they  all  being  com- 
bined or  united,  it  will  affect  a  second  to  a  greater  or  less  degree ; 
but  upon  restoring  the  first  attribute  by  kind  treatment,  a  cure  would 
be  very  easily  performed  by  a  careful  physician  and  kind  nurse. 
Thus  you  might  prevent  the  contagion  from  extending  to  the 
second,  but  if  you  neglect  to  make  an  effort  to  restore  the  first,  the 


56  GENERAL    REMARKS. 

disease  will,  as  a  matter  of  course,  extend  to  the  second  and  third 
attribute,  and  perhaps  inhale  in  its  progress  other  diseases  or  assume 
a  different  character,  and  will  thus  extend  to  the  fourth,  and  will 
continue  its  ravages  until  it  reaches  or  terminates  in  the  last  attri- 
bute. At  this  juncture  it  would  be  impossible  to  restore  either  of 
the  attributes,  and  the  whole  mind  of  man  becomes  morbid  and 
incapable  of  self-government — the  contagion  spreads  throughout 
the  whole  system  and  may  extend  to  the  brain  and  produce 
mania  or  raving  madness,  a'nd,  in  all  probability  terminate  in  death ; 
all  of  which  might  be  prevented  by  treating  the  unfortunate  subject 
as  insane. 

Some  of  the  finest  talent  in  the  world  may  be  found  in  members 
of  insane  institutions.  For  a  time  their  talent  becomes  impaired 
from  some  one  or  more  of  the  causes  laid  down  under  the  first  head 
of  insanity,  and  their  friends  discover  it  and  take  them  to  an  asylum 
to  be  healed  ;  and  it  is  not  an  unfrequent  occurrence  that  they  re- 
cover from  the  disease  and  return  home  and  make  the  most  brilliant 
men  in  the  world.  If  a  man,  in  the  hurry  of  business,  happens  to 
commit  some  unintentional  errors,  and  his  mind  becomes  perplexed, 
and  his  friends  become  alarmed,  fearing  they  may  lose  their  debts, 
refusing  to  give  him  time  to  correct  those  errors,  (as  was  the  au- 
thor's case)  he  looks  upon  it  as  a  disgrace  to  be  imprisoned  or 
threatened  with  imprisonment^  if  he  has  been  in  good  standing  in 
society,  or  living  in  the  favor  of,  and  rn  peace  and  harmony  with 
his  friends.  If  they  begin  to  abuse  him  and  drop  off  from  him,  he 
notices  it  all  the  time,  and  it  produces  unpleasant  feelings  for  them 
to  make  those  threats  of  punishment ;  but  if  he  is  insane,  he  does  not 
look  upon  it  as  a  disgrace  to  be  led  kindly  by  his  friends  to  a  respect- 
able healing  institution,  But  on  the  contrary,  he  takes  it  as  a  special 
favor.  When  your  friend  becomes  insane,  show  your  God  what 
you  are,  and  never  mind  what  the  world  may  say  against  it.  The 
soul  that  is  insane  cannot  help  it ;  he  would  like  very  much  to  be 
sane.  Some  people  will  have  it  in  such  cases  that  they  could  avoid 
being  insane,  and  that  they  are  not  in  that  state,  but  only  think  so. 
I  reckon  if  one  of  those  persons  was  to-  think  himself  insane,  he 
would  be  very  willing  to  be  led  to  this  institution  to  be  healed. 
You  would  come  along  very  kindly.  Do  you  suppose  the  young 
man  in  the  tombs  cutting  himself  with  stones,  could  avoid  his  con- 
dition, or  that  he  could  have  healed  himself?  It  is  just  as  reasona- 
ble to  suppose  that  as  it  is  to  suppose  that  the  man  who  is  insane 
can  avoid  his  condition  or  heal  himself.  Suppose  you  were  taken 
suddenly  sick  with  nervous  or  congestive  fever — could  you  prevent 
it?  I  guess  not — but  perhaps  you  might  be  healed.  Insanity  is 
likewise  a  disease,  but  more  violent  and  painful,  and  if  you  were  to 
become  afflicted  with  this  awful  malady  you  might  be  healed  of  it 
also.  It  requires  a  little  more  time  and  care  than  a  case  of  fever. 

Some  families  wait  for  their  friends  to  come  and  tell  them  that 
their  relatives  are  insane,  and  get  on  their  knees  and  ask  their  friends 


'   '   '  ItA-i-      ;    il          •'•  *l"'  "./••••  «J^« 

GENERAL    REMARKS.  57 

to  take  care  of  them,  and  if  they  happen  to  be  possessed  of  too  high 
a  mind  to  pursue  this  course,  God  pity  their  condition,  for  in  many 
instances  their  friends  will  have  no  mercy  on  them.  The  insane 
are  quite  high-minded — they  even  sometimes  imagine  themselves 
kings  and  favorites  of  heaven. 

The  man  that  steps  up  to  you  and  says,  "  Sir,  I  am  an  insane 
man."  is  one  who  only  thinks  himself  insane.  He  may  tell  you  by 
citing  the  condition  of  other  men  who  are  pronounced  insane  and 
treated  as  such,  and  ask  you  to  say  yourself,  citing  you  at  the  same 
time,  to  their  own  condition  or  to  an  insane  institution,  and  ask  yoa 
for  a  friend.  But  they  will  never  tell  in  plain  words  until  they  be- 
come in  a  similar  condition  with  the  writer ;  then  they  will  acknowl- 
edge themselves  insane.  It  is  a  hard  word  for  a  man  to  cry  out 
upon  himself.  He  expects  his  friends  to  cry  that  word  for  him.  A 
boy  may  speak  it,  but  a  man  don't  like  to  confess  himself  inferior 
in  point  of  talent  or  honor  to  his  fellow  man.  I  have  noticed  all  my 
life  that  a  man's  friends  get  entirely  too-  smart  in  such  cases,  long 
before  the  right  time  ;  but  when  the  time  comes  for  them  to  act  and 
show  what  they  should  do,  they  are  never  smart  enough.  It  is 
everybody's  business — and  I  have  heard  it  said,  what  is  every- 
body's business  is  nobody's  business.  Every  man  is  in  action  and 
no  man  acts  right — if  they  do,  it  is  a  rare  occurrence.  A  majority 
of  people  profess  to  be  perfect  judges  of  insanity,  and  there  is  not 
one  out  of  every  hundred  that  can  define  it,  and  perhaps  it  would 
not  be  extravagant  to  say  one  out  of  every  thousand. 

If  a  man's  friends  will  set  themselves  up  as  judges,  they  certainly 
should  be  very  sure  that  they  do  not  judge  amiss  ;  and  if  they  are 
not  capable  of  judging  they  should  not  set  themselves  up  as  judges. 
What  kind  of  feeling  would  the  reader  suppose  it  would  put  upon  a 
man,  to  hear  that  a  certain  other  man  in  the  circle  of  his  acquaint- 
ance, had  become  insane,  and  to  see  the  relations  and  friends  of  that 
man  mount  their  horses  and  lope  off  to  his  house  and  not  abuse  or 
seek  any  advantage  or  suffer  any  one  else  to  do  it  until  he  gets  well ; 
and  he  knows  himself  to  be  the  most  insane  man  on  the  face  of 
God's  earth,  and  that  his  relatives  and  friends  have  a  good  right  to 
know  it  too,  and  he  also  knows  them  to  be  under  equal  obligations 
towards  him  as  that  of  the  other  man's  friends,  and  he  sees  them 
mount  their  horses  and  strike  off  to  hunting  up  and  circulating  re- 
ports on  him,  and  gallop  up  to  his  house  and  abuse  him,  and'  go  off 
to  boast  that  they  have  given  him  a  good  lecturing ;  is  it  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  this  conduct  could  possibly  create  any  good  feel- 
ing '?  If  you  do  suppose  such  a  thing,  you  are  very  much  mistaken 
in  your  suppositions.  It  creates  an  unpleasant  feeling  in  his  mind 
and  breast  towards  his  friends,  and  causes  him  to  lose  confidence  in 
himself  and  them.  In  some  instances  they  require  a  longer  time  to 
treat  a  case  of  insanity  in  their  families  than  others,  fearing  that 
they  might  act  in  too  much  haste.  You  cannot  act  in  too  much 


58  GENERAL    REMARKS. 

haste  in  such  cases  if  you  act  with  caution  and  discretion.  Time 
is  money,  therefore  it  is  best  td  make  use  of  it  as  it  glides  on.  If 
youi'  friend  becomes  insane,  you  cannot  get  to  him  too  soon,  if  you 
approach  hiia  in  a  proper  manner.  Some  families  have  to  go  out 
and  ask  tha  people  what  their  duty  is  towards  their  insane,  and 
while  they  are  making  such  inquiries  perhaps  their  insane  may  com- 
mit suicide.  Read  this  book  and  it  will  teach  you  your  duty.  It 
does  no  good  to  pronounce  a  man  insane  unless  you  act  upon  his 
condition.  For  one  man  to  say,  "  there  stands  an  insane  "man,"  and 
a  second  to  say,  "  well,  let  him  stand — no  one  cares,"  does  not  heal 
insanity.  It  requires  action  in  such  cases.  I  could  get  no  man  to 
act  upon  my  condition,  either  for  love  or  money,  until  it  was  forever 
too  late.  I  have  tried  at  least  one  thousand  men  upon  the  subject, 
and  in  a  thousand  different  ways  for  action,  but  they  invariably  took 
the  wrong  view  of  it,  and  began  to  make  game  and  abuse,  which 
only  adds  fuel  to  the  fire.  It  is  passingly,  strange  that  a  man's  friends 
and  relatives  have  no  more  feeling  than  to  abuse  him  when  he  is  sick 
and  deranged.  You  do  not  know  but  what  you  may  now  have  a 
son  or  a  daughter  that  is  deranged  ;  it  would  not  be  amiss  to  inves- 
tigate it  closely  :  and  if  it  proves  to  be  the  case,  be  very  certain  to 
take  care  of  that  one  and  treat  it  kindly,  and  I  will  insure  that  will 
give  you  a  character  in  the  estimation  of  gentlemen ;  you  will  be 
spiritually  rewarded,  both  in  time  and  eternity. 

Some  men  may  say  that  they  have  no  use  for  this  book,  upon  the 
ground  that  they  have  no  insane  in  their  families.  My  friends  and 
relatives  always  held  that  they  had  no  insane,  but  they  found  them- 
selves awfully  mistaken.  Suppose  you  have  no  insane  now — per- 
haps you  or  some  of  your  family  might  become  insane,  and  then  you 
would  find  use  for  a  book,  thai  would  teach  you  what  to  do  with 
them.  Buy  while  they  are  going,  lest  you  might  wish  you  had  one 
when  you  need  it. 

I  have  heard  it  said  that  during  my  trip  to  New  Orleans,  (hereto- 
fore mentioned)  a  letter  was  received  by  the  Methodist  Church,  of 
which  I  was  a  member,  stating  that  if  I  'remained  a  member  of  said 
Church  it  would  not  prosper.  If  it  be  any  satisfaction  to  the  Church 
to  know  the  truth,  I  wrote  no  such  letter ;  and  if  a  letter  of  any 
description  was  received  by  said  Church  over  my  name,  it  was  a 
forgery,  both  writing  and  signature.  This  is  not  the  first  forgery 
that  was  ever  committed  by  using  my  name,  by  several.  I  remem- 
ber it  was  used  quite  freely  during  the  winter  of  1838-9,  to  notes 
given  for  a  large  drove  of  hogs,  bought  by  G.  T.  &  Co.,  of  which 
partnership  I  was  not  a  member ;  neither  did  I  have  any  part  or  lot 
in  the  profits  or  loss  of  said  purchase,  except  in  taking  the  paper  of  said 
concern  in  discount  of  debts  due  Mr.  X — •—  and  myself,  which  opera- 
tion I  stood  opposed  to.  (for  I  knew  the  concern  to  be  insolvent,)  and 
by  which  I  sustained  a  loss  of  several  thousand  dollars.  I  never 
authorized  any  of  their  agents  to  use  my  name  to  the  notes,  either 


GENERAL    REMARKS.  59 

verbally  or  by  writing ;  and  I  wrote  no  letter  during  said  trip  to 
New  Orleans,  to  the  Church,  or  to  any  person,  except  to  three  indi- 
viduals on  business  in  which  they  were  interested. 

The  heart  is  the  seat  of  life — from  it  flows  throughout  the  whole 
system  a  circulation  of  blood,  even  to  the  extremities  of  the. fingers 
and  toes — from  the  crown  of  the  head  to  the  sole  of  the  foot — cir- 
culating from  the  heart,  through  the  veins  and  arteries,  and  then 
returning  to  the  heart  and  re-circulating  again  and  again  ;  and  if  the 
seat  of  life,  which  is  the  heart,  becomes  sick,  the  head  becomes  sick 
also,  and  thus  the  whole  system  becomes  sick.  When  the  seat  of 
life  dies,  the  balance  cannot  survive  long — it  is  bound  to  follow  soon 
after,  in  some  way  or  other  :  but  when  the  head  and  heart  become 
sick  t-hey  may  be  healed,  and  thus  prevent  the  other  members  of  the 
body  from  receiving  the  contagion,  and,  instead  of  terminating  in 
death,  the  man  m%  live  many  years.  You  may  break  the  heart 
of  a  lion  or  an  ox  if  you  treat  them  as  I  was  once  treated,  much  less 
the  heart  of  a  man. 

Insanity  is  never  out  of  danger,  neither  does  it  know  when  it  is 
in  danger.  Some  people  watch  their  insane  very  close  until  about 
the  time  they  think  they  are  about  to  destroy  themselves,  and  then 
they  quit  watching.  It  is  nice  to  watch  an  insane  man — it  only 
makes  them  worse  to  watch  them  ;  take  them  into  your  houses  and 
treat  them  kindly,  or  bring  them  here  where  they  can  be  healed. 
Some  people  don't  care  no  more  what  becomes  of  their  insane  than 
they  do  for  a  dumb  brute,  and  not  so  much,  for  they  will  take  care 
of  a  dumb  brute,  and  they  won't  take  care  of  their  insane.'  It  is 
sometimes  the  case  that  one  kind  word  saves  a  man's  life.  Time 
things  are  time  things,  and  eternal  things  are  eternal  things  ;  time 
things  may  be  changed — time  things  may.be  rectified  if  a  man's 
friends  will  give  him  time  to  rectify  them,  but  eternal  things  cau- 
not. 

O,  t.hou  that,  stoneth  the  prophets  and  killeth  them  that  I  sent 
unto  thee,  how  oft  would  I  have  gathered  you  together  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  brood  under  her  wings,  and  unfolded  these  mysteries 
unto  you,  and  ye  would  not ;  eyes  ye  had,  and  ye  would  not  see  ; 
ears  ye  had,  and  ye  would  not  hear.  Eyes  I  had,  and  I  did  see  ; 
ears  I  had,  and  I  could  not  hear. 

When  you  step  up  to  an  insane  man  and  abuse  him,  you  are  en- 
tirely out  of  business ;  you  have  got  nothing  else  in  the  world  to 
do,  and  you  may  get  yourself  into  business  by  it,  and  a  very  bad 
business. 

Gentlemen  and  ladies  in  high  stations, 

Will  you  look  down  upon  the  insane  idiot 
With  contempt  ?     .You  and  your  great  relations 

Might  all  become  maniacs  and  idiots. 

*  Will  you  turn  to  them  a  deaf  ear, 

Or  will  you  raise  your  voice  for  them  in  prayer, 
That  God  may  restore  their  minds  and  bless  you  every  year, 
And  lead  them  from  the  dangerous  snare? 


60 


GENERAL    REMARKS. 

They  are  of  the  same  dust  and  fellow-being. 

Your  conduct  towards  them  is  marked  down 
By  the  eyes  of  Him  who  is  always  seeing; 

He  expects  you  in  your  duty  to  be  found. 

If  you  should  mistreat  them  and  show  disrespect, 

Slim  would  be  your  chance  for  heaven ; 
Therefore  you  had  better  them  protect, 

That  you  and  them  may  be  pure  leaven. 

Thus  you  might  wear  fine  laurels, 

And  meet  them  in  peace  beyond  J  ordan's  stormy  banks, 
Where  never  enter  jars  or  quarrels ; 

Where  you  could  win  crowns,  golden  harps  and  thanks. 


IDIOTISM. 


IDIOTISM  is  a  state  in  which  the  mental  faculties  have  been  want- 
ing from  birth,  or  have  not  been  manifested  at  the  period  at  which 
they  are  generally  or  usually  developed.  Idiotism  is  an  original 
defect,  and  is  by  this  circumstance,  as  well  as  by  its  phenomena, 
distinguished  from  that  of  fatuity,  which  results  from  disease,  or  from 
protracted  age.  The  latter  is  dementia,  and  it  is  important  that 
this  affection  should  not  be  confounded  with  idiotisrn.  I  will  point 
out  the  distinction  between  idiotism  and  original  deficiency  of  under- 
standing. Tt  is  divided  into  two  stages  or  degrees,  viz :  absolute 
idiotism  and  the  condition  approaching  to  idiotism,  which  last  is 
denominated  imbecility.  Imbecility  is  a  state  in  which  the  intel- 
lectual faculties  are  not  wholly  deficient,  though  manifested  in  a 
lower  degree  than  according  to  the  ordinary  standard. 

Idiotism,  however,  is  not  the  same  in  all  instances.  It  differs  in 
particular  cases  and  has  a  variety  of  forms.  One  of  the  most  strong- 
ly marked  of  these  is  termed  cretonism,  a  species  of  idiotism  connected 
with  personal  deformity.  Says  Prichard,  Cretons  often  show  in  their 
earliest  infancy  what  they  are  destined  to  become.  They  have 
sometimes,  in  their  first  years,  a  puffed,  swollen  countenance ;  their 
bands  and  heads  are  large  and  out  of  proportion  to  the  rest  of  their 
bodies;  they  evince  insensibility  to  atmospheric  impressions;  an 
habitual  state  of  stupor  and  sloth  ;  difficulty  in  sucking,  as  if  through 
weakness  of  instinct  connected  even  with  the  first  wants  ;  very  slow 
and  imperfect  development  of  the  faculty  of  articulating  sounds  after 
they  are  only  capable  of  learning  to  pronounce  vowels  without  conso- 
nants ;  they  even  display  more  and  more  clumsiness  and  stupidity  in 
all  their  movements.  The  same  deficiency  or  absence  of  intelligence 
continues  to  the  age  of  ten  or  twelve  years.  Cretons  of  that  age  are 
frequently  unable  to  take  food  into  their  mouths  and  masticate  it,  so 
that  it  is  even  necessary  to  put  their  aliment  down  their  throats. 
As  they  grow  up  they  still  \va\k  with  an  awkward  and  tottering  gait 
when  they  can  be  induced  to  move  at  all.  They  have  never  r 
cheerful  countenance,  are  always  stupidly  obstinate,  with  a  resistip' 

61 


62  IDIOTISM. 

I 

mutinous  temper  ;  they  show  a  disproportioned  smallness  of  head  in 
'•elation  to  their  bodies ;  their  heads  are  flattened,  and  the  tuberosjty 
of  the  occiput  is  less  projecting  than  is  natural ;  their  eyes  are 
small,  sometimes  deeply  sunk,  at  others  prominent ;  their  look  fixed 
and  stupid,  chests  flat,  fingers  thin  and  long,  the  soles  of  their  feet 
flat  and  sometimes  bent,  and  often  turned  inwards  or  outwards  ;  ob- 
scene and  erotic  propensities.  They  do  not  walk  about  much,  and  are 
only  excited  by  a  desire  taget  food  or  warm  themselves  by  the  fire 
or  in  the  rays  of  the  sun;  his  litter  is  his  longest  and  most  fatiguing 
Journey,  and  to  it  he  coines  tottering  and  reeling  about.  In  seeking 
his  object  he  goes  forward  without  shunning  dangers  or  obstacles  ; 
he  can  take  no  other  road  than  the  one  most  familiar.  Their  organs 
of  sense  are  imperfect ;  they  see  imperfectly,  are  deaf  or  hard  of 
hearing,  dumb  or  mumbling  and  lisping  in  their  speech ;  their  taste 
and  smell  are  also  imperfect,  and*  they  eat  without  selection  of  food. 
Their  reflecting  faculties  are  still  more  imperfect  than  their  powers 
of  sensation  ;  they  are  incapable  of  directing  their  attention  to  any- 
thing ;  though  sensations  take  place  through  the  organs  of  sight  or 
hearing,  they  are  scarcely  followed  by  any  perception  of  objects. 
Many  idiots  have  even  the  instinctive  faculties  in  a  defective  state, 
and  appear  to  be  far  below  the  brutes  in  the  scale  of  animal  exist- 
ence, for  brute  animals  have  in  perfection  all  those  impulses  to  action 
which  are  necessary  for  their  individual  well-being  and  that  of 
their  tribe. 

Idiots,  however,  have  their  bodily  appetites  and  sexual  desires  ; 
they  are  likewise  subject  to  anger  and  rage.  There  are  some  who 
display  faint  glimmerings  of  intelligence;  their  attention  is  some- 
times excited  by  impressions  made  upon  their  senses ;  they  appear 
to  look  upon  certain  objects  with  a  sentiment  of  pleasure  mixed 
with  curiosity. 

Bsquirol  gives  an  account  of  a  woman  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
who  was  admitted  at  the  Salpetriere,  in  1812.  Her  mother,  while 
pregnant,  experienced  certain  severe  trials,  and  the  subject  had  a 
feeble  and  sickly  infancy,  and  learned  to  walk  at  a  very  late  period. 
When  five  years  of  age  she  suffered  from  a  severe  illness,  Kesulting- 
it  was  supposed,  from  a  fright.  Since  that  period  the  progress  of 
intelligence  has  ceased,  although  the  organs  are  well  developed. 

er  stature  is  above  the  medium  size,  her  step  easy,  slow,  and 
somewhat  haughty  ;  her  hair  of  a  chesnut  color,  her  forhead  high, 
eyes  blue,  face  flushed,  chin  small  and  sharp,  teeth  white  and  well 
arranged,  the  occiput  well  developed,  the  physiognomy  mild  and 
friendly,  skin  fair  and  the  limbs  well  formed.  The  admeasurement 
of  the  head,  taken  during  life,  is  as  follows : 


,  IDIOTISM.  63 

Circumfer.ence,     -  33.66  in. 

Antero  posterior  diameter,     -  -  7.87 

Bi.  temporal  diameter,   t        -   .  6.10   " 

From  the  curve  at  the  root  of  the  nose  to  the  occi- 
pital tuberosity,  14.29    " 

Total,  61.92 

The  menses  appeared  at  thirteen,  and  we're  abundant  and  regu- 
lar at  fourteen.      After  that  period  her  disposition  became  less  ami- 
able, and  she  refused  to  labor.     The  sight  of  men  caused  the  blood 
to  mount  into  her  cheeks,  and  she  was  accustomed  to  escape  from 
the  house  of  her  parents  to  run  about  and  play  with  little  boys. — 
The  intellectual  capacity  of  this  imbecile  was  considerable  ;  she  at- 
tended both  to  what  she  saw  and  heard.     She  had  some  memory, 
formed  a  sufficiently  accurate  judgment  respecting  the  most  com- 
mon things,  and  replied  correctly,  .but  in  a  hesitating  tone,  to  such 
questions  as  were  rarely  addressed.     In  vain   they   endeavored  to 
teach  her  to  read  and  labor— she  would  repeat  a  few  letters  and 
that  was  all.      She  learned  how  to  arrange  dolls,  and  amused  her- 
self with  them.     She  would  dress  herself,  comb  her  hair,  wash  her- 
self, make  her  bed,  and  call  for  a  change  of  linen.     She  would  go 
for  her  food  ;  but  was  unwilling  to  receive  it  except  in  dishes  appro- 
priated specially  to  her  use  ;  quite  haughty,  and  disdained  her  com- 
panions ;  and  notwithstanding  she  was  habitually  mild,  opposition 
irritated  her,  and  she  then  became  perverse  and  abusive  in  her  lan- 
guage, and  would  strike  if  made  angry.     If  any  one  struck  her  she 
would  return  their  blows  with  interest.     She  was  excessively  obsti- 
nate, and  would  never  yield  ;  had  neither 'fear  nor  jealousy  ;  walk 
ed  much,  and  sported  with  her  companions  ;  would  caress  her  mo 
ther,  of  whom  she  was  very  fond,  and   if  long  absent,  she  became 
sad.     She  would  accuse  her  father-in  law,   whom  she  disliked,  Oi 
treating  his  other  children  better  than  herself,  and  particularly  in 
supplying  them  with  better  clothing.     She  was  observant  of  atten 
^tions  paid  to  her.     The  sight  of  men  produced  a  strong  impression, 
and  she  watched  for  the  workmen  when  permitted  to  enter  the 
courts  of  the  hospital.     She  never  became  habituated  to  continual 
labor.     On  receiving  a  new  dress,  she  hastened  to  display  herself  to 
her  companions  and  the  domestics  of  the  house.     When  her  portrait 
was  taken,  in  consequence  of  the  regularity  in  the  form  of  her  head, 
and  the  harmony  of  her  features,  which  contrasted  with  the  feeble- 
ness of  her  understanding,  she  seemed  transported  with  joy.     Nev- 
ertheless, there  was  much  difficulty  found  in  inducing  her  to  keep 
her  seat,  which  she  was  constantly  disposed  to  leave.     It  was  impos- 
sible to  take  a  cast  of  her  face,  for  so  soon  as  she  felt  the  softened 
plaster  over  her  eyes,  she  would  open  them.     She  has  often  essayed 
in  vain  to  keep  her  113s  closed,  and  often  wept  with  mortification  at 
her  inability  to  submit  successfully  to  the  operation.      Imbeciles 


64  IDIOTISM. 

are  nothing  of  themselves — they  are  incapable  of  attention.  With 
feeble  sensations  and  fugacious,  dull  of  memory  a'nd  inaccurate, 
they  are  able  to  combine  and  compare,  but  their  will  is  without 
energy.  They  are  not  always  deprived  of  the  power  of  speech  ;  a 
small  portion  of  them  are  mutes.  They  very  readily  express,  by 
the  play  of  their  countenance  and  gestures,  their  thoughts,  desires, 
and  wants.  Nothing  is  produced  by  them,  and  all  their  movements, 
both  intellectual  and  moral,  are  aroused  only  by  foreign  impulses. 
They  neither  think  no*  act  but  through  others ;  their  will  is  with- 
out energy ;  they  cannot  follow  a  conversation,  and  are  still  more 
feeble  in  a  discussion,  nor  can  they  conduct  a  project  to  its  close. 
They  regard  the  most  serious  things  as  gay,  and  laugh  at  those 
that  are  most  sad.  They  hear  but  do  not  comprehend,  although 
they  affect  to  both  see  and  understand.  Their  gestures  and  posi- 
tions are  odd,  and  rarely  in  harmony  with -what  they  think  or  say, 
are  puffed  by  pretension,  easily  led  and  controlled,  and  incapable  of 
application  and  labor.  There  are  other  imbeciles,  however,  who  pos- 
sess but  a  small  number  of  sensations  and  ideas,  and  have  but 
little  memory.  Their  language  also  is  limited,  obstinate,  and 
peevish. 

Parents  and  guardians  are  under  equal  obligations  to  the  unfor 
tunate  idiot  as  they  are  to  their  insane,  except  the  healing  part.  I 
conceive  it  to  be  impossible  to  heal  idiocy  where  they  are  born  in 
that  condition  ;  therefore,  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  lay  down  any 
particular  rule  by  which  they  might  be  healed.  Still;  it  is  your 
duty  to  reasonably  feed  and  clothe  them,  and  render  them  as  com- 
fortable as  you  can.  It  might  be  proper  to  give  a  sufficiency  of  mild 
medicine,  occasionally,  to  keep  the  stomach  and  bowels  in  a  healthy 
condition.  They  do  not-  usually  live  to  be  more  than  from  twenty 
to  thirty  years  of  age,  and  very  frequently  die  ajL  an  earlier  period, 
especially  where  they  are  mistreated,  which  shortens  their  lives  as 
does  maltreatment  in  cases  of  insanity. 

LINES  TO    MY    FATHER. 

May  God  support  you  in  old  age, 
And  when  he  takes  you  from  this  stage 
May  you  in  Heaven  meet  my  mother, 
And  Jesus  Christ,  your  elder  brother. 

Your  youngest  son,  perhaps,  you'll  never  see, 

But  pray  don't  think  of  me ; 
When  a  boy  I  loved  you  more 
Than  all  the  sons  you  had  before 

When  you  suffered  me  from  your  mansions  driven, 
.As  did  Noah's  dove  o'er  this  wide  domain  I've  striven, 
If  wrongs  to  you  -I  have  done, 
Pray  forgive  them  all  or  none. 
While  this  I  write  1  can't  forbear  to  weep, 
That  I  by  my  country  should  be  sold  sq,.cheap 


JURISPRUDENCE  OF  INSANITY, 


THE  chief  design  of  the  author  of  this  work  has  been  to  convey 
to  the  reader  a  correct  view  of  insanity,  and  the  manner  of  treat- 
ment requisite  to  effect  a  cure,  together  with  the  causes  that  produce 
the  disease,  and  the  manner  of  detecting  it.  I  will  now  lay  down 
what  I  conceive  to  be  correct  views  in  criminal  cases  of  insanity 
before  any.  particular  court  of  judicature. 

This  subject  will  be  readily  admitted  as  one  of  great  importance 
and  interest.  The  life  of  a  fellow-being  is  often  dependent  upon  the 
evidence  given  in  a  court  of  justice.  When  cases  of  this  kind  be- 
come matters  of  judicial  inquiry,  a  person  ignorant  of  the  character 
and  peculiarities  of  disordered  intellect,  of  the  pathetical  condition 
of  the  human  mind,  of  its  strange  caprices,  of  the  influence  of  exter- 
nal and  internal  agents  in  disordering  its  manifestations,  may  by 
his  evidence  consign  a  human  being,  deprived  of  his  reasoning 
faculties,  and  having  no  control  over  his  thoughts  and  actions,  to  an 
ignominious  and  painful  death.  The  judge  and  jury,  never  having 
had  an  opportunity  of  making  the  subject  of  insanity  their  study, 
must  depend  principally  upon  the  evidence  of  medical  testimony. 
If  they,  too,  have  not  investigated  the  subject,  how  perilous  is  the 
condition  of  the  unhappy  man  charged  with  the  commission  of  a 
capital  crime,  and  held  responsible  to  answer  the  laws  of  his  coun- 
iry.  and  abide  the  decisions  of  a  court  and  jury  wholly  ignorant  of 
the  disease,  and  suffer  the  penalties  of  the  law  on  account  of  the 
executors  of  it  being  uninformed  !  It  may  be  urged  that  it  is  only 
the  province  of  the  court  to  state  to  the  jury  the  law  on  criminal 
cases  of  insanity.  To  do  this,  it  is  necessary  that  he  should  be 
intimately  conversant  with  the  subject  and  the  peculiar  character- 
istics of  mental  derangement.  To  do  justice  in  such  cases,  it -is 
absolutely  necessary  that  not  only  the  medical  men  examined,  but 
the  judge  and  jury,  should  be  well  informed  upon  the  subject  of 
insanity.  t 

The  time,  I  hope,  is  not  far  distant,  when  there  will  be  instituted, 
for  the  investigation  of  cases  in  which  it  is  important  to  establish 
the  existence  or  non-existence  of  aberration  of  mind,  a  separate 
5 


66  JURISPRUDENCE 

jurisdiction,  presided  over  by  persons  whose  attention  has  been 
specially  directed  to  the  study  of  mental  derangement.  Some  of 
the  most  illustrious  ornaments  of  the  bench,  in  cases  where  insanity 
may  be  urged  as  an  exculpatory  plea,  might  labor  under  difficulties 
unless  well  informed  upon  this  particular  subject,  and  thereby,  in  all 
probability,  unintentionally  give  an  erroneous  charge  to  the  jury, 
and  pass  an  erroneous  sentence  upon  the  unfortunate  subject,  and 
inflict  th%  punishment  of  an  ignominious  and  torturing  death,  while 
at  the  same  time  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  court,  bar  and  jury,  to 
protect  the  unfortunate  criminal,  by  extending  the  benefit  of  such 
laws  as  are  made  and  provided  in  cases  of  insanity  generally — they 
being  blessed  by  an  all-wise  Creator  with  proper  reasoning  faculties 
and  bodily  health,  and  their  unfortunate  fellow  being  both  bodily 
and  mentally  diseased. 

No  man  should  be  considered  competent  to  give  an  opinion  on  a 
complicated  question  as  a  witness,  where  insanity  may  be  suspected, 
or  should  be  necessary  to  be  investigated  for  the  well  being  of  society 
and  that  of  the  unfortunate  criminal,  unless  he  has  made  the  disease 
of.  the  mind  his  study ;  and  if  an  attempt  should  be  made  to  bring 
forward  any  such  testimony,  it  should  be  exposed  by  the  bar  to  the 
laughter  of  the  court.  Yet  medical  knowledge  is  essentially  neces- 
sary for  the  elucidation-  of  any  particular  case  of  insanity,  and  the 
friends  of  the  subject  should  as  well,  as  heretofore  laid  down  in  the 
treatment  of  cases  of  insanity  in  general,  apply  to  the  most  efficient 
medical  aid  in  their  reach.  It  might  be  the  case,  that  from  some 
previous  misunderstanding  between  the  parties,  that  partialities  or 
prejudices  might  exist  in  the  minds  of  such  witnesses,  either  in 
favor  of  or  against  any  particular  criminal  case  of  insanity,  at 
which  time  all  such  feelings  should  be  thrown  aside,  and  perhaps  it 
might  be  advisable  to  throw  the  testimony  aside  and  procure  other 
medical  testimony,  with  whom  the  criminal  may  not  have  been  pre- 
viously acquainted,  or  had  no  transactions  in  the  different  avoca- 
tions and  pursuits  of  life.  Not  one  of  the  jury  may  have  ever  seen 
a  case  of  insanity,  nor  have  given  the  subject  a  moment's  consider- 
ation. It  would  be  erroneous  to  place  a  dying  maniac  in  the  dungeon 
of  a  county  or  State  prison,  and  bind  him  down  with  fetters  and 
chains,  thus  placing  him  on  a  level  with  thieves,  robbers  and  midnight 
assassins,  who  would  plunge  a  dagger  into  the  heart  of  his  fellow 
being,  and  usher  him  into  another  mode  of  existence.  Such  a  course 
would  go  to  cause  the  disease,  to  further  increase  its  ravages  and 
torturing  pains,  and  might  cause  the  disease  to  prove  fatal  and  the 
subject  to  commit  suicide.  The  unfortunate  subject?  knowing  him- 
self to  be  insane,  looks  up  to  his  friends  for  advice,  and  when  they 
treat  him  thus,  he  becomes  tired  of  the  present,  and  is  willing  to  try 
a  future  existence.  * 

In  such  cases  their  friends  may  render  as  an  excuse,  that  they 
were  confining  them  to  prevent  an  escape,  about  which  they  need 
not  give  themselves  any  uneasy  thoughts.  There  is  no  danger  of 


'  OF  INSANITY.  67 

• 

an  insane  man  trying  to  make  his  escape,  but,  on  the  contrary,  their 
friends  should  go  and  take  them  home,  or  carry  them  to  a  lunatic 
asylum,  where  they  will  be  taken  good  care  of  and  cured,  and  where 
they  will  be  prevented  from  destroying  themselves  or  any  other  per- 
son. By  this  course  you  may  preserve  life.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some 
persons  that  none  but  the  lower  class  of  men  ever  commit  suicide, 
and  say,  let  them  go — no  one  cares — it  injures  none  but  themselves. 
Such  persons  are  laboring  under  a  mistaken  notion.  It  occurs  almost 
invariably  with  men  who  were  once  in  the  first  standing  in  society, 
and  in  possession  of  the  finest  talents  in  the  world,  and  it  invariably 
implicates  the  highest  rank  of  society.  Insanity  should  be  held  in 
high  estimation  by  sanity,  and  is  by  persons  of  reflection  who  know 
anything  about  the  disease. 

Relative  to  the  duties  enjoined  upon  judges,  counsellors,  parents, 
guardians,  friends  and  physicians,  in  reference  to  any  particular 
criminal  case  of  insanity,  suffice  it  to  say,  once  for  all,  that  the  obli- 
gation of  such  is  equally  binding  towards  each  and  every  case,  without 
regard  to  sex,  name  or  age — there  is  no  exempt  case.  I  do  not  mean, 
by  standing  opposed  to  the  imprisonment  of  maniacal  criminals  in 
the  dungeons  of  a  county  or  State  prison,  (as  sane  criminals  should 
be,)  that  it  would  be  advisable  to  suffer  them  to  roam  at  large  over 
the  world,  subject  to  be  led  about  by  the  whims  and  intrigues  of 
the  sane  thief  or  midnight  assassin,  and  imperceptibly  led  to  the 
commission  of  unlawful  deeds,  which,  if  sane,  they  could  not  have 
been  induced  to  commit.  Thus,  through  the  mistaken  notions  of  a 
court  and  jury,  who  may  not  have  had  an  opportunity  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  subject  of  insanity,  a  poor  soul  might  be  inflicted 
with  the  punishment  of  the  lav/  for  doing  a  deed  when  not  in  his 
right  mind.  If  not  protected,  therefore,  by  their  friends,  and  treated 
by  their  physicians  while  in  this  state  of  aberration,  the  unfortunate 
subjects  are  doomed  to  sink  in  the  estimation  of  society,  and  are 
classed  in  the  rank  of,  and  subject  to  suffer  the  penalties  of  the  law, 
with  the  sane  villain  who  may  have  led  them  to  commit  the  crime; 
when,  if  properly  taken  care  of,  or  sent  to  a  lunatic  asylum  by  their 
friends,  in  all  probability  their  minds  would  be  restored,  and  they 
become  useful  men  to  society.  It  is  nice  to  even  suppose  an  insane 
man  or  woman  should  know  how  to  procure  their  own  counsel  when 
brought  before  a  court  for  the  commission  of  a  criminal  offence,  or 
even  to  take  care  of  themselves. 

Deranged  persons  sometimes  imagine  themselves  surrounded  by 
enemies  who  are  seeking  their  lives,  and  actually  sink  under  fright 
and  fall  dead  in  their  tracks,  or  put  an  end  to  their  own  existence 
with  the  view  of  preventing  their  enemies  from  gratifying  their 
blood-thirsty  souls  in  their  blood — preferring  to  take  their  own  lives 
rather  than  let  their  enemies  do  it.  The  judge  forgets  to  say,  in  his 
charge  to  the  jury,  that  perhaps  the  criminal  at  the  bar  is  insane, 
and  cite  them  to  the  insane  institution  at  which  they  might  be 
healed.  The  lawyer  forgets  to  sav  that  his  client  is-  insane,  and  to 


68  JURISPRUDENCE 

• 

cite  the  jury  to  an  insane  institution.  The  jury  forget,  in  rendering 
their  verdict,  that  there  is  an  insane  institution.  They  all  forget  the 
respectable  healing  house,  but  they  never  forget  the  penitentiary  and 
gallows.  It  is  better  to  err  in  such  cases  on  the  side  of  mercy  than 
on  the  side  of  severity — it  is  better  to  drink  the  blood  of  a  hundred 
sane  men  than  one  insane  man,  all  being  guilty  of  the  same  crime 
If  a  man  be  guilty  of  a  crime,  and  you  arraign  him  before  any  court 
of  judicature,  if  he  be  insane  and  you  swear  that  he  is  sane,  it  makes  * 
him  amenable  to  the  laws  of  his  country  for  the  crime  he  commits, 
and  he  is  punished  with  death— the  prosecutor  that  prosecuted  him, 
the  witness  that  swore  against  him,  the  jury  that  found  the  verdict, 
the  judge  that  passed  the  sentence,  and  the  sheriff  that  executed 
him,  are  all  held  responsible  in  tho  sight  of  God  as  a  band  of  mur- 
derers. You  are  taking  the  life  of  him  whom  God  commands  you 
to  heal — you  are  destroying  where  you  should  protect.  ^,-,. 

Acting  justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs,  constables  and  coroners, 
are  sworn  to  support  the  Constitution  of  their  respective  States 
and  of  the  United  States ;  and  if  a  case  of  insanity  occurs  in 
your  city,  town,  county,  or  district,  and  you  live  wholly  in  the  neg- 
lect of  treating  the  subject  as  such,  you  stand  perjured  in  the  sight 
of  God,  together  with  all  other  officers  who  take  the  same  oath. 

In  addition  to  the  plans  heretofore  laid  down  for  detecting  insanity 
or  homicide,  I  will  further  lay  down  the  following.  They  are  founded 
on  general  observation  :  — 

Acts  of  homicide  perpetrated  by  insane  persons — by  other  striking 
peculiarities  of  action  noted  in  the  conduct  of  these  individuals — 
by  a  total  change  of  character. 

The  same  individuals,  in  many  instances,  would  attempt  suicide, 
expressing  a  wish  for  death,  and  they  will  in  some  cases  even  beg 
to  be  executed  as  criminals. 

Those  acts  are  without  motive;  they  are  in  opposition  to  the 
known  influences  of  all  human  motives.  A  man  murders  his  wife 
and  children  who  is  known  to  have  been  tenderly  attached  to  them, 
and  a  mother  destroys  her  infant. 

The  subsequent  conduct  of  the  unfortunate  individual  is  generally 
characteristic  of  his  state.  He  seeks  no  escape  nor  flight  as  would 
the  sane  villain,  but  delivers  himself  to  justice,  acknowledges  the 
act,  describes  the  state  of  mind  which  led  to  its  perpetration,  or  re- 
mains stupified  and  overcome  by  a  horrible  consciousness  of  having 
been  the  agent  in  an  atrocious  deed.  The  murderer  has  generally 
accomplices  in  vice  and  crime — there  are  assignable  inducements 
which  lead  to  its  commission — motives  of  self-interest,  of  revenge, 
displaying  wickedness  premeditated.  The  acts  of  a  madman  are 
also  in  some  degree  premeditated,  but  his  premeditation  is  peculiar 
and  characteristic — with  a  view  of  trying  to  convince  his  friends  of 
his  teal  condition,  hoping  that  he  may  get  them  into  action  upon 
the  treatment  of  his  vase  to  prevent  suicide  or  any  further  destruc- 
tion. There  is  also  a  presumption  of  insanity  where  the  individual 


OF    INSANITY.  69 

has  either  been  previously  insane,  or  affected  by  epilepsy.  I  main- 
tain that  capital  punishment  has  the  effect  of  developing  in  the 
maniacal  criminals,  in  many  instances,  a  destructive  impulse,  as 
well  as  exciting  that  tendency  to  imitate  which  is  inherent  in  every 
mind.  The  sentence  of  punishment  by  death,  instead  of  producing 
a  beneficial  effect  with  persons  laboring  under  homicidal  tendencies, 
actually,  in  many  instances,  stimulates  them  to  the  commission  of 
^rime. 

I  will  cite  to  the  following  cases,  taken  from  Prichard  : — I.  K.,  a 
farmer,  several  of  whose  relatives  had  been  the  subjects  of  mental 
derangement,  was  a  man  of  .--ober  and  domestic  habits,  and  frugal 
and  steady  in  his  conduct  until  about  his  forty-fifth  year,  when  his 
disposition  appeared  to  have  become  suddenly  changed  in  a  manner 
which  excited  the  surprise  of  his  friends  and  neighbors,  and  occa- 
sioned grief  and  vexation  in  his  family.  He  became  wild,  excitable, 
thoughtless,  full  of  schemes  and  absurd  projects  ;  he  would  set  out 
and  make  long  journeys  into  distant  parts  of  the  country  to  pur- 
chase cattle  and  farming  stock,  of  which  he  had  no  means  of  dispo- 
sing. He  bought  a  number  of  carriages,  hired  an  expensive  house 
ready  furnished,  which  had  been  occupied  by  a  person  much  above 
his  rank,  and  was  unsuited  to  his  condition.  He  was  irascible  and 
impetuous,  quarrelled  with  his  neighbors,  and  committed  an  assault 
upon  the  clergyman  of  his  parish,  for  which  he  was  indicted  and 
bound  to  take  his  trial.  At  length  his  wife  became  convinced  that 
he  was  mad,  and  made  application  for  his  confinement  in  a  lunatic 
asylum,  which  was  consequently  affected.  The  medical  practitioners 
who  examined  him  were  convinced  of  his  insanity,  by  comparing 
his  late  wild  habits  and  unaccountable  conduct  with  the  former  tenor 
of  his  life,  taking  in  consideration  the  tendency  to  disease  which 
was  known  to  prevail  in  his  family.  The  change  of  his  character 
alone  had  produced  a  full  conviction  in  the  minds  of  his  friends  and 
relatives  of  his  madness.  When  questioned  as  to  the  motives  which 
had  induced  him  to  some  of  his  proceedings,  he  gave  clear  and  dis- 
tinct replies,  and  assigned,  with  great  ingenuity,  some  plausible  rea- 
son for  almost  every  part  of  his  conduct. 

A.  B.,  a  tradesman  of  industrious,  sober  habits,  conducted  himself 
with  propriety  until  about  forty-six  years  of  age.  and  had  accumulated 
a  considerable  property  from  the- fruits  of  his  exertions.  About  that 
period  he  lost  his  wife,  and  after  her  death,  he  became  more  and 
more  penurious.  At  length  he  denied  himself  the  comforts,  and.  in 
a  great  measure,  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  became  half  starved 
and  diseased.  His  body  was  emaciated  and  beset  with  scaly  erup- 
tions. Mr.  S.,  a  gentleman  had  long  known  him,  hearing  of  the 
condition  into  which  he  had  sunk,  sent  a  medical  practitioner  to 
visit  him,  by  whose  advise,  Mr.  B.  was  removed  from  a  miserable, 
dirty  lodging,  to  a  lunatic  asylum.  Mr.  S.,  who  was  present  on  the 
occasion,  observed  that  A.  B.,  previous  to  quitting  the  room  in  which 
he  had  immured  himself,  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  an  old  trunk  in  the 


70  JURISPRUDENCE 

corner  of  the  apartment.  This  was  afterwards  emptied  of  its  con 
tents,  and  in  it  were  found,  in  the  midst  of  various  articles,  dirty 
bank  notes,  which  had  been  thrown  into  it  apparently  at  different 
times,  to  the  value  of  more  than  a  thousand  pounds.  A.  B.,  after 
his  removal  to  an  asylum,  where  he  had  wholesome  food  and  exer- 
cise, soon  began  to  recover  from  his  bodily  infirmities,  and  at  length 
became  anxious  to  be  at  large.  He  betrayed  no  sign  of  intellectual 
delusion,  nor  did  it  appear  that  anything  of  that  description  had 
ever  been  a  part  of  his  complaint.  After  some  months,  and  after 
various  expedients  were- adopted,  it  became  necessary  to  bring  him 
back  to  the  asylum,  with  a  certificate  from  a  medical  man  who  had 
examined  and  declared  him  to  be  insane.  He  still  remains  in  the 
asylum,  and  derangement  is  now  more  complete  than  formerly,  as 
it  plainly  involves  his  intellect. 

Mr.  H.  P.  had  been  for  many  years  confined  in  a  lunatic  asylum, 
when  an  estate  having  devolved  upon  him  by  inheritance,  it  became 
necessary  to  subject  him  anew  to  investigation.  He  was  examined 
by  several  physicians,  who  were  unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  he 
was  a  lunatic,  but  a  jury  considered  him  to  be  of  sound  understand- 
ing, attributing  his  peculiarities  to  eccentricity,  and  he  was  conse- 
quently set  at  liberty.  The  conduct  of  this  individual  was  the  most 
eccentric  that  could  be  imagined  ;  he  scarcely  performed  any  action 
in  the  same  manner  as  other  men,  and  some  of  his  habits,  in  which 
he  obstinately  persisted,  were  singularly  filthy  and  disgusting.  For 
every  peculiar  custom  he  had  a  faint  and  often  ludicrous  reason  to 
allege,  which  indicated  a  strange  mixture  of  rudeness  and  absurdity. 
It  might  have  been  barely  possible  to  attribute  all  these  peculiarities, 
as  well  as  the  morbid  state  of  temper  and  affections,  to  singularity 
in  the  natural  character  and  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  under 
which  this  person  had  been  placed ;  but  there  was  one  conviction 
deeply  fixed  on  his  mind,  which,  though  it  might  likewise  be  ex- 
plained by  the  circumstances  of  his  previous  history,  seemed  to  con- 
stitute an  instance  of  maniacal  delusion.  Whenever  any  person 
whom  he  understood  to  be  a  physician  attempted  to.feel  his  pulse, 
he  would  recoil  with  an  expression  of  horror,  and  exclaim,  "  If  you 
were  to  feel  my  pulse,  you  would  be  lord  paramount  over  me  for  the 
rest  of  my  life."  The  result  has  proved  that  confinement  is  not  al- 
ways necessary  in  cases  of  this  description.  Mr.  H.  P.  has  remained 
at  liberty  for  many  years,  and  his  conduct,  though  extremely  singu- 
lar, has  been  without  injury  to  himself  or  others. 

It  is  a  well  established  fact  that  masturbation  is  a  prolific  cause 
of  mental  derangement  in  young  subjects.  In  those  cases,  although 
the  intellect  finally  surfers  deeply  and  rapidly,  yet  in  its  initiatory 
stage  the  moral  and  affective  may  be  seriously  perverted,  while  the 
conduct  and  conversation  of  the  individual  may  be  outwardly 
marked  by  its  usual  propriety.  Long  before  any  intellectual  aber- 
ration is  observed,  and  while  the  patient  is  merely  moody  and  re- 


OF    INSANITY.  71 

served,  his  mind  may  be  tortured  by  fears  and  suspicions  that  mar 
his  peace  and  sometimes  lead  him  to  acts  of  violence. 

Dr.  Bell,  the  accomplished  physician  of  the  McLean  Asylum  of 
Massachusetts,  says  that  he  knew  a  pious,  intelligent  student,  pur- 
suing his  daily  avocations  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  friends  and  in- 
structors, who  nightly  slept  with  a  weapon  under  his  pillow  to  pro- 
tect himself  from  attack  from  one  whom  he  had  scarcely  seen,  and 
to  whom  he  had  never  spoken,  and  when  convinced  of  his  delusion 
by  proofs  so  overpowering  that  his  mind  was  obliged  to  acknowledge 
its  assent,  he  merely  transferred  his  suspicious  to  another  equally 
innocent  individual.  Had  this  young  man  met  the  object  of  his 
suspicions  and  shot  him  dead,  how  few  could  have  been  brought  to 
believe  that  he  acted  under  the  influence  of  insanity  and  was  conse- 
quently irresponsible.  .  How  feeble  would  have  been  any  evidence 
of  insanity,  but  such  as  had  reference  expressly  to  the  particular 
form  under  which  he  was  laboring.  Such  a  case  as  this  should 
make  a  strong  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  medical  jurist. 

The  following  cases  are  taken  from  Winslow's  Pleas  of  Insanity, 
which  deserve  high  consideration. 

An  intriguing,  vicious,  unruly  madman  was  detected  with  a  piece 
of  iron,  which  he  had  contrived  to  shape  like  a  dagger,  and  to  which 
he  firmly  fixed  a  handle.  The  weapon  was  taken  away  from  him, 
when  he  immediately  became  excessively  abusive,  and  was  placed 
under  restraint.  After  this  he  was  more  violent,  and  uttered  the 
most  revolting  imprecations.  In  a  fit  of  fury,  he  exclaimed  to  the 
keeper,  "  I'll  murder  you  yet— I  am  a  madman,  and  they  cannot 
hang  rne  for  it." 

In  1829,  Mr.  G.  Combe  saw  a  patient  who  had  been  confined  in. 
the  Richmond  Lunatic  Asylum  for  the  period  of  ten  years.  He  was 
intelligent,  ingenious  and  plausible — he  was  represented  as  having 
been  a  scourge  to  his  family  in  childhood — had  been  turned  out  of 
the  army  as  an  incorrigible  villain — had  attempted  the  life  of  a 
soldier — jjad  fyeen  repeatedly  flogged.  andWiad  subsequently  endea- 
vored to  murder  his  father.  With  reference  to  this  case,  Dr.  Craw- 
ford, physician  to  the  Asylum,  makes  the  following  observations : — 
He  never  was  different  from  what  he  is  now  ;  he  has  never  evinced 
the  slightest  incoherence  on  any  one  point,  nor  any  kind  of  hallu- 
cination ;  it  is  one  of  those  cases  which  throw  a  difficulty  in  drawing 
the  line  between  .extreme  moral  depravity  and  insanity,  and  in  dis- 
covering at  what  point  an  individual  should  cease  to  be  considered 
as  a  responsible,  moral  agent,  and  answerable  to  the  laws.  The 
governors  and  medical  gentlemen  of  the  asylum  have  often  had 
doubts  whether  they  were  justified  in  keeping  him  as  a  lunatic. 
He  appears  so  thoroughly  callous  with  regard  to  any  moral  principle 
and  feeling;  so  totally  unconscious  of  ever  having  done  any  thing 
wrong  ;  so  completely  destitute  of  all  sense  of  shame  or  remorse, 
when  reproved  for  his  vices  or  crimes,  and  has  proved  himself  so 


72  JURISPRUDENCE 

irtiterly  incorrigible  throughout  life,  that  it  is  almost  certain  that  any 
jury  before  whom  he  might  be  brought  would  satisfy  their  doubts  by 
returning  him  insane  to  a  lunatic  asylum,  which,  in  such  a  case, 
would  be  the  most  humane  course  to  pursue.  He  was  dismissed 
several  times  from  the  asylum,  and  sent  there  the  last  time  for 
attempting  to  poison  his  father,  and  it  is  thought  best  that  he  should 
be  kept  there  for  life  as  a  moral  lunatic.  But  there  has  never  been 
the  least  symptom,  of  diseased  action  of  the  brain,  which  is  the  gen- 
eral concomitant  of  what  is  usually  understood  as  insanity. 

There  have  been  many  cases  very  similar  to  that  just  related  for 
the  care  and  protection  of  which  nothing  whatever  has  been  done. 
The  gallows  ends  the  career  of  many  unfortunate  moral  maniacs. 
Was  not  Labierse  a  case  of  this  kind  ?  This  man,  who  is  represent- 
ed to  have  borne  a  "high  character,  murdered  his  mistress,  two  wives, 
Whom  he  had  successively  married,  his  own  son,  and  was  at  last  ar- 
rested in  his  criminal  course  by  being  detected  in  stealing  a  child, 
which  he  had  destined  to  satisfy  his  savage  appetite.  This  maniac 
selected  the  period  of  parturition  for  the  administration  of  poisons. 
The  only  motive  assigned  for  his  conduct  was,  the  delight  which  he 
was  presumed  to  take  in  witnessing  persons  suffer  excruciating  tor- 
ture. This  man  was  condemned  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  law, 
and  was  executed.  Ought  he  not  to  have  been  sent  to  a  mad-house? 

The  following  case  of  homicidal  insanity  excited  much  attention 
in.  France,  and  amongst  the  medical  men,  created  considerable  dis- 
cussion :  Henriette  Conover,  a  female  servant,  twenty-seven  years  of 
age,  was  of  mild  and  lively  disposition,  full  of  gaiety  and  remarkably 
fond  of  children.  Suddenly  a  singular  change  was  observed  in  her 
deportment.  She  became  silent,  melancholy,  disturbed  in  thought, 
and  finally  sunk  into  a  state  of  stupor.  This  was  in  the  month  of 
June.  She  was  dismissed  from  her  place  on  account  of  her  mental 
dejection,  and  in  the  month  of  September  attempted  to  commit  sui- 
cide. In  the  following  October  she  entered  into  the  service  of  Madame 
Fournier — still  despondii%  and  melancholy.  On  the  4th  of  Novem- 
ber she  suddenly  conceived  the  horrible  purpose  of  murdering  the 
child  of  a  neighbor.  She  severed  its  head  from  its  body  wSth  a  large 
kitchen  knife.  She  subsequently  declared  that  while  executing  this 
horrible  deed,  she  felt  no  particular  motive  either  of  pleasure  or  of 
pain.  She,  however,  experienced  some  emotions  of  fear  at  the  end 
of  two  hours.  Madame  Belam  came  and  inquired  for  her  child — 
"  Your  child  is  dead,"  replied  Henriette.  She  made  no  attempt  to 
escape  or  to  deny  the  crime.  This  unfortunate  creature  was  tried 
on  the  27th  of  February,  1826,  when  the  medical  witnesses  declared 
that  though  they  could  not  produce  any  positive  proof  of  her  insanity, 
yet  they  were  equally  unable  to  pronounce  her  sane.  She  was  again 
brought  to  trial,  found  guilty  of  homicidal  suicide  and  sentenced  to 
hard  labor  for  life. 


OF  INSANIt*.  73 

• 

I  hope  any  court  and  jury  will  be  able,  by  close  observation,  to  dis- 
criminate in  criminal  cases,  between  homicidal  criminals  and  sane 
criminals,  which  is  a  very  important  consideration.  I  hope  the  dif- 
ferent courts  and  councils  will  not  think  this  short  and  compre- 
hensive view  of  jurisprudence  in  criminal  cases  of  insanity  to  be  an 
intrusion  upon  their  different  elevated  stations,  as  it  has  been  my 
whole  design  to  enlighten  any  portion  of  them  that  may  never  have 
had  an  opportunity  of  making  the  subject  of  insanity  their  study,  and 
hope,  by  a  clear  investigation  of  this  book,  they  will  be  much  aided 
in  defining  such  cases,  and  perhaps  may  be  even  aided  in  rendering 
the  charge  to  the  jury  relative  to  the  insane  laws,  and  the  jury  might 
De  aided  in  rendering  their  verdict.  I  think  it  unnecessary  to  add 
much  more  upon  this  subject,  as  I  never  was  a  judge  of  a  court  or  a 
practitioner  at  the  bar,  neither  did  I  ever  sit  as  a  juror  or  give  testi- 
mony as  a  witness  in  a  criminal  case  either  of  sanity  or  insanity.  I 
was  nothing  but  a  common  citizen,  engaged  in  the  daily  avocations 
and  pursuits  of  life. 

The  reader  might  come  to  the  conclusion  that  some  parts  of  this 
work  are  pretty  cutting.     If  so,  whatever  part  they  may  think  good 
they  can  cherish  in  their  minds,  and  the  bad  they  can  throw  aside, 
as  it  is  not  intended  to  be  any  portion  of  the  law  of  the  land,  but  a 
family  adviser  or  medical  book  for  the  parents,  sons  and  daughters, 
brothers  and  sisters  to  read,  and  heal  and  be  healed.     I  hope  it  will 
cause  no  division  or  confusion,  but  unite  you  together  as  a  band  of 
brothers  upon  the  importance  or  unimportance  of  the  different  sub- 
jects herein  contained.     United  you  stand,  divided  you  fall.     A  man 
may,  under  the  influence  of  disease  of  his  mental  powers,  commit 
acts  of  extravagance,  ruin  himself  and  family,  become  involved  in  all 
kinds  of  difficulties,  indulge  in  habits  destructive  to  both  body  and 
mind,  and  no  restrictive  or  protective  measures  be  adopted  to  save 
him  from  inevitable  ruin.     The  absence  of  all  hallucination  or  per- 
version of  the  mental  powers  is  the  only  thing  that  saves  such  an 
unprotected  person  from  sudden  destruction.     I  have  received  many 
favors  from  the  hands  of  my  friends  during  my  life,  for  which  I  feel 
very  thankful.     Some  of  them  have  received  large  favors  at  my 
hands,  for  which  I  hold  no  claims  on  them  further  than  to  afccpunt  to 
my  creditors  and  children  for  any  debts  they  may  owe  me.     If  you 
miss  doing  an  insane  man  the  right  favor  in  due  time — according 
to  its  day  and  time — it  all  amounts  to  nothing  in  the  end.     The 
right  favor  is  to  have  them  healed,  taught,  protected  and  taken  care 
of.     In  the  midst  of  counsel  there  is  safety,  but  in  an  over  multi- 
plicity of  counsel  there  is  no  safety.     Of  the  latter  I  have  in  time 
received  a  liberal  portion. 

In  criminal  cases  of  insanity,  where  the  life  of  the  unfortunate 
subject  is  at  stake,  which,  when  taken,  all  he  has  of  an  earthly 
nature  goes  with  it. 


74  JURISPRUDENCE    OF    INSANITY. 

^ 

The  judge  and  jury  should  be  Washingtonians, 
The  medical  testimony  should  be  Jeffersonians, 
The  counsel  should  be  Ciceros,  or  Patrick  Henrys, 
The  friends  should  all  be  in  their  memories, 
The  clerk  should  not  give  a  slip  with  his  pen, 
And  the  sheriffs  should  act  like  men. 
To  the  heeling  of  your  insane  I  will  cite  you  all, 
As  waa  advised  the  Hebrews  by  the  apostle  Paul. 


ON  SUICIDE. 


ANY  self-murder  might  be  justly  termed  suicide.  The  man  who 
shoots  himself  commits  suicide  ;  the  man  who  plunges  wilfully  into 
the  depths  of  the  murmuring  deep,  as  it  flows  swiftly  down,  encom- 
passed by  its  banks,  and  drowns  himself,  commits  suicide  ;  or  the 
man  who  takes  inwardly  ardent  spirits,  laudanum  or  opium,  for  that 
express  purpose,  commits  suicide  ;  but  the  act  of  drawing  a  razor 
across  the  throat  is  and  might  be  distinguished  from  all  other  sell- 
murders  as  suicide. 

In  giving  the  general  causes  that  produce  suicide  or  self-murder 
in  any  way,  we  will  have  to  be  governed  in  a  great  degree  by  the 
same  causes  heretofore  laid  down  that  produce  insanity,  as  it  is  in- 
evitably the  case  that  insanity  i«  always,  with  very  few  exceptions, 
together  with  this  rigid  course  of  maltreatment  and  abusive  lan- 
guage, the  forerunner  of  suicide.  I  am,  therefore,  justified  in  saying 
that,  as  a  general  rule,  no  man  would,  in  a  state  of  sanity,  sound  in 
body  and  mind,  with  malice  aforethought,  commit  this  act.  It  al- 
most invariably  originates  from  some  local  disease  in  the  brain  or 
system — which  act  man  of  himself  never  commits.  It  is  true  he 
strikes  the  blow  with  liis  own  hand  or  pulls  the  trigger  with  his 
own  finger,  but  strictly  speaking  the  persons  under  whose  care  he 
is,  and  with  whom  the  unfortunate  subject  may  have  his  immediate 
transactions  in  life,  and  those  with  whom  he  most  frequently  asso- 
ciates and  looks  up  to  for  advice  and  protection,  together  with  his 
attendant  physicians,  do  the  work  for  him.  Hence  they  become  his 
murderers.  Some  men  are  committing  suicide  fiye,  some  ten,  some 
fifteen,  and  some  even  for  twenty  years — making  the  attempt  at  in- 
tervals. Suppose,  for  instance,  that  a  man  conceals  himself  in  his 
room,  in  the  absence  of  any  person,  knowing  at  the  same  time  that 
it  would  be  impossible  for  any  person  to  get  to  him  to  prevent  him 
from  committing  the  act,  and  after  having  taken  a  wreapon  in  his 
hand,  reflects  for  a  moment,  seeing  the  error  he  is  in,  and  lays  it 

75 


76  SUICIDE. 

down — even  if  he  should  not  put  his  intention  into  execution,  I 
would  say  that  man  was  insane,  or  both  bodily  and  mentally  dis- 
eased ;  and  their  friends,  physicians,  parents,  or  guardians,  as-  the 
case  may  be,  should  take  the  case  in  hands  immediately,  to  prevent 
it,  by  treating  it  upon  one  of  the  two  plans  heretofore  laid  down 
under  the  head  of  treatment  in  cases  of  insanity  in  general.  By 
this  means  they  restore  the  nerve,  or  fibre,  already  affected  or  dis- 
eased ;  and  in  rendering  the  service  they  save  the  life  of  the  unfor- 
tunate subject,  and  win  to  themselves  unfading  laurels,  as  did  the 
lord  of  the  young  man  that  went  down  to  Jericho. 

The  time  to  take  steps  to  prevent  such  fatal  accidents  from  befall- 
ing the  bodies  of  unfortunate  men,  is  upon  the  first  attempt  you  may 
suspect  they  make  at  suicide,  or  upon  the  loss  of  the  first  fibre  of 
the  brain.  Therefore,  if  taken  in  hand  in  a  proper  manner,  it  is 
just  as  easy  restored  as  a  common  fever  or  influenza;  it  requires  a 
little  more  care  and  caution  on  the  part  of  the  friends  and  physi- 
cians of  the  patient,  but  what  of  all  that  when  you  save  the  life  of 
a  fellow  being,  and  perhaps  have  your  son  or  brother  in  your  fireside 
conversations  for  years  to  come.  In  all  probability  you  may  thus 
be  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  God  in  saving  a  soul  in  eternity. 
If  you  see  thy  brother  in  fault,  chasten  him  mildly,  affectionately 
and  brotherly ;  by  so  doing  you  may  save  thy  brother's  soul,  receive 
a  brighter  reward,  add  stars  to  your  own  crown,  and  enter  with  him 
into  realms  of  unfading  felicity.  Then  you  may  sit  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  God,  hail  Jesus  Christ  as  your  elder  brother,  and  fall 
down  at  his  feet  with'your  sheaf,  and  cry  out,  "  Here,  Lord,  is  one 
sheaf  that  thou  gavest  me  in  yonder  world  ;  I  have  cultivated  the 
vine,  and  thou  didst  send  rain  in  thy  good  grace  in  good  season  to 
water  and  replenish  its  growth."  In  gathering  time,  when  God 
shall  call  upon  you  to  account  for  your  stewardship,  you  can  render 
to  him  your  son,  brother,  patient  or  friend,  as  the  case  may  be — fine 
fruits  of  your  labors — and  the  unfortunate  subjects  might  be  justly 
termed  the  fruit  of  the  vine.  You  might,  with  oare  and  kind  reli- 
gious instruction,  have  fine  fruit  from  the  vine  and  fig  tree,  and  be 
counted  meat  fit  for  your  master's  service. 

If  the  friends  of  subjects  neglect  to  treat  them  as  insane  persons, 
as  heretofore  laid  down  under  the  head  of  treatment  in  cases  of 
insanity,  until  the  disease  reaches  or  terminates  in  the  last  stage, 
by  all  means  they  should  at  that  time  grasp  the  arm  and  prevent 
the  fatal  blow.  It  is  easy  to  prevent  suicide  by  a  little  care  and 
caution  ;  but  whejp  people  take  a  stubborn  stand,  and  look  upon  it 
as  a  duty  to  abuse  insanity,  not  considering  the  moral  obligation 
they  owe  to  themselves,  their  fellow-men  and  their  God,  and  take 
no  steps  to  prevent  such  things  from  taking  place,  they  may  find 
their  friends  committing  suicide,  and  then  they  begin  to  excuse 
themselves  to  one  another,  and  to  the  people.  But  when  you 
investigate  this  matter  rightly,  you  will  find  that  there  is  but  one 


SUICIDE.  77 

j£ "  * 

place  to  render  an  account,  and  that  is  at  the  bar  of  Almighty  God. 
You  cannot  render  an  account  for  eternal  things  before  any  other 
tribunal. 

It  is  nice  to  step  up  to  a  little  boy  who  may  have  been  bereaved 
of  one  or  both  of  his  earthly  parents,  and  say,  before  you  have 
brought  him  up,  "  Sir,  you  must  come  down."  I  would  recommend 
the  plan  of  bringing  your  boys  up.  Human  nature  is  humarwnature, 
and  human  nature  in  the  shape  of  insanity  is  easy  enough  led  to  do 
wrong  contrary  to  its  own  will,  without  frightening  it  from  one  de- 
gree of  maniacy  into  another,  until  it  commits  suicide.  Suicide  is 
very  frequently  produced  by  sudden  fright  and  abusive  language. 

You  may  take  a  pig,  and  feed«and  water  it  until  you  make  it 
quite  gentle,  and  even  have  a  pet  of  it ;  but  do  you  quit  feeding 
and  watering  that  pig,  and  let  it  take  a  notion  into  its  head 
that  you  intend  to  kill  it,  or  turn  it  into  the  woods  and  set  the  dogs 
after  it,  and  you  may  run  it  entirely  wild,  and  if  you  don't  watch 
very  close  you  will  never  tame  it  again.  Just  so  with  human  nature 
— you  may  take  a  boy  of  a  dozen  years  of  age,  he  may  be  ever  so 
mild,  kind  and  affable,  and  let  him  be  bereft  of  his  parents  that  lay 
nearest  his  heart,  and  cease  to  render  him  parental  advice,  and 
begin  to  abuse  and'  call  him  a  worthless  fool,  and  knock  and  cuff" 
him  about  as  if  he  were  a  dog,  and  show  signs  of  malice  and 
unkind  and  inhuman  feeling  towards  him,  by  telling  him  he  is  a 
jurthen  to  you  and  that  you  are  tired  of  him,  and  by  making  a 
difference  between  him  and  other  members  of  the  family  by  slighting 
him  at  table,  etc.,  he  takes  notice  of  all  this,  but  says  nothing  about 
it;  and  you  may  thus  run  human  nature  as  wild  as  the  wildest  deer 
in  the  forest — you  may  run  it  as  wild  as  hell  itself,  and  hell,  you 
know,  is  death.  He  looks  upon  himself  as  a  cast-off,  and,  like  the 
prodigal  son,  he  becomes  willing  to  forsake  his  father's  house,  and 
would  rather  eat  husks  with  swine  than  ask  for  a  piece  of  bread. 
It  is  not  an  unfrequent  occurrence,  that  such  treatment  produces 
madness  and  terminates  in  suicide. 

Again  :  you  may  take  a  boy  at  twelve  years  of  age,  and  let  him 
^be  ever  so  wild,  if  you  will  deal  kindly,  mildly  and  gently  with 
him,  and  not  hand  him  bread  when  he  asks  for  it  as  if  you  thought 
it  a  stone,  or  a  fish  as  if  you  thought  it  a  serpent,  whose  fangs 
might  jag  you,  but  give  them  freely  and  kindly,  and  in  all  probabi- 
lity he  will  make  a  useful  member  of  society.  The  art  of  taming 
is  just  as  easy,  less  expensive,  and  much  more  agreeable,  than  the 
art  of  running  one  wild  ;  and  if  you  are  not  very  careful,  about 
the  time  you  think  you  are  doing  something  great  by  running 
them  wild,  you  will  never  tame  them.  It  is  much  easier  to  pursue 
a  kind  course  and  keep  them  tame,  than  it  is  to  get  them  to  return 
to  this  condition.  Just  as  the  twig  is  bent  the  tree  is  inclined. 

Was  there  no  healing  in  the  waters  of  the  author's  native  land, 
which  once  flowed  with  milk  and  honey — was  there  no  balm  in 
that  fertile  soil — was  there  no  physician  there — was  there  no  Moses 


78  .  SUICIDE. 

who  could  lift  up  the  brazen  serpent  in  the  wilderness  that  he 
might  look  upon  it — was  there  no  good  Samaritan  to  lead  him  to 
an  inn  and  pay  the  two-pence  to  have  him  healed,  or  was  there  no 
follower  of  the  Son  of  God  to  lead  him  out  of  the  tombs  to  prevent 
him  from  cutting  himself  with  stones  or  weapons?  The  young 
man  heretofore  alluded  to,  who  was  in  the  tombs  cutting  himself 
with  ftones,  was  committing  suicide.  The  Son  of  God  did  not 
look  upon  it  as  a  disgrace  to  heal  him.  and  thereby  prevent  him 
from  destroying  himself.  Those  who  look  upon  it  as  a  disgrace  to 
treat  such  persons  kindly,  must  look  upon  •themselves  as  superior  to 
the  Son  of  God,  and  he  that  thinketh  himself  the  greatest  shall  be 
the  least. 

Again  :  you  may  take  two.horses,  at  from  three  to  four  years  of 
age — let  them  be  of  equal  muscular  power  ;  take  one  and  feed  and 
water  him  regularly  and  treat  him  kindly,  ride  him  moderately  and 
never  overtask  his  powers,  and  if  he  becomes  sick,  physic   him  and 
give  him  rest  until  he  is  well,  and  at  ten  years  he  is  a  good  horse,  in 
the  prime  of  life,  and  may,  under  such  a  course  of  treatment,  be  a 
serviceable  horse  at  twenty.     Take  the  other  and  hiich  him  to  the 
plough^or  dray,  drive  him  under  the  whip  all  the  week,  feed  and 
water  him  once  or  twice  a  day,  ride  him  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  on 
Sunday,  and  at  ten  years  of  age  he  is  a  dead  horse,  v  Just  so  with 
human  nature — you  may  take  two  boys  of  equal  constitution,  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age  ;  place  one  under  kind  treatment,  and 
require  from  him  reasonable  labor,  and  when  sick  have  him  taken 
care  of  u,ntil  he  is.  well ;  at  thirty  years  of  age  he  is  in  the  prime  of 
life,  and  under-  such  a  course  of  treatment,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  he  might  live  out  his  three  score  and  ten,  which  is  the  u^ual 
time,  in  the  present  age  of  the  Avorld,  allotted  for  man,  and  might 
make  a  useful  member  of  society  all  the  time.     Take  the  other  and 
place  him  under  a  rigid  course  of  maltreatment  and  abusive  lan- 
guage, and  thereby  break  his  heart,  which  is  the  seat' of  life  ;  drive 
him  under  whip  and  spur  day  and  night ;  if  he  becomes  sick  pay  no 
particular  attention  to   him,  or  if  you  do  undertake  to  have  him 
healed,  pour  large  doses  of  strong  medicine  into  his  system,  anil 
thereby  destroy  his  health,  constitution,  and  mental  powers  ;  require 
impossibilities  at  his  hands  and  drag  him  imperceptibly  into  bondage, 
and  he  becomes  hopelessly  deranged  ;  yet  he  knows  his  condition 
and  passively  submits  to  abuse,  thinking  that  they  will  some  day  or 
other  take  his  case  into  consideration  before  it  is  forever  too  late. 
His  prospects  may.  be  equal  or  perhaps  greater  at  the  outset  of  life 
than    the   one  placed  under  kind   treat.me.nt,  but  under  this  rigid 
course,  at  about  thirty  years  of  age,  when  he  is  just  old  enough  to 
be  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  is  a  dead  man,  and  in  such  cases  life  gene- 
rally terminates  in  suicide.     If  .he  had  been  placed  under  the  sa-me 
kind  of  treatment  as  the  other  boy,  he  might  also  have  1-ived  out 
his  full  time  of  three  score  and  ten  years,  and  been  equally  useful  to 
society ;  some  people  expect  their  relatives  and  friends  to  come  to 


Mk 

SUICIDE.  79 


them  and  tell  therri  in  plain  terms  that  they  intend  to  commit  suicide 
— which  course  the)'  will  never  take.  If  a  man  steps  up  to  you  and 
says,  "Sir,  I  am  ineane,  and  if  you  don't  take  care  of  me  I  will 
take  my  life,"  you  need  not  be  uneasy — that  man  will  never  com- 
mit suicide.  But  if  he  tells-you  that  there  is  a  discovery  of  import- 
ance to  be  made,  and  cites  you  to  the  condition  of  other  persons  in 
the  circle  of  his  acquaintance  who  are  pronounced  insane  and  treat- 
ed as  such,  and  cites  you  to  his  own  condition,  and  tells  you  that  it 
will  take  close  watching  to  make  the  discovery,  you  may  know  pre- 
cisely what  he  means;  he  intends  that  if  you  do  not,  in  a  reasona- 
ble time,  treat  his  condition  kindly,  to  commit  suicide,  and  leave 
you  the  bag  to  hold  with  both  ends  open  ;  and  he  desires  that  you, 
being  blessed  by  Almighty  God  with  proper  reasoning  faculties,  will 
take  steps  by  which  to  prevent  it.  This  important  duty  is  enjoined 
upon  you  as  fellow  beings,  bone  of  the  same  bone,  flesh  of  the  same 
flesh,  and  dust  of  the  same  dust — having  sprung  from  the  same  ori- 
gin, and  being  created  by  the  same  divine  hands.  It  is  not  only  your 
duty  to  take  such  steps,  but  it  is  your  own  interest  and  the  well  be- 
ing of  society.  By  preventing  them  from  committing  suicide,  or 
doing  wrong  in  any  way  while  in  a  state  of  insanity,  adds  to  your 
own  safety,  peace  and  happiness.  It  frequently  becomes  necessary 
to  bring  your  insane  to  this  or  some  other  institution,  nearest  in 
your  reach,  not  only  for  their  own  welfare,  but  in  some  instances  it 
actually  becomes  necessary  to  seek  an  asylum  for  them  for  your  own 
safety  and  that  of  their  families. 

One  murder  sometimes  produces  another.  Just  so  with  ^suicides 
— if  one  man  commits  suicide,  and  you  have  any  good  reason  to 
suspect  that  it  would  be  more  than  human  nature  could  bear  in  any 
oilier  particular  individual,  then  is  a  good  time  to  take  steps  to  pre- 
vent the  second.  They  very  frequently  walk  their  floors  for  a  half, 
or  a  whole  night,  without  .sleeping  a  wink,  with  a  razor  in  their 
hand,  to  commit  suicide  ;  and  for  a  short  time  before  they  put  their 
designs  in  execution,  they  become  sleepless  and  drink  water  in  large 
quantifies,  and  their  appetite  fails.  I  might  here  say,  as  a  general 
rule,  that  you  may  be  governed  in  detecting  an  intended  suicide,  in 
the  same  manner  laid  down  for  detecting  insanity.  You  will  also 
notice  a  person  who  is  laboring  under  aberration  of  mind  repeated- 
ly placing  his  hand  to  his  forehead,  where  there  exist  acute  pains. 
The  insane  are  quite  high-minded,  and  you  cannot  convince  them 
but  that  suicide  is  the  most  honorable  premature  death  that  an  in- 
sane man  can  die.  If  there  be  honor  attached  to  any  premature 
death,  they  look  upon  suicide  as  the  greatest.  I  will  venture  to  say 
that  an  insane  person  cannot  commit  any  act  that  would  sink  them 
in  the  estimation  of  a  gentleman,  but  on  the  contrary,  gentlemen 
will  protect  insanity.  None  but  half-handed  fops  and  swindlers 
will  slander  it.  I  do  not  drop  these  remarks  to  encourage  men  to 
commit  suicide,  for  the  friends  of  the  unfortunate  subject  should 
take  steps  in  due  time  to  prevent  it.  If  you  do  not  take  such  steps 


,80  SUICIDE. 

or  make  an  effort  to  prevent  it,  where  you  have  had  a  reasonable 
time  to  suspect  that  a  suicide  might  occur,  yotf,  under  whose  care 
ah  insane  man  is,  or  should  be,  are  held  firmly  bound  for  every  drop 
of  blood  that  may  be  shed  in  such  cases,  just  as  if  you  had  stabbed 
the  subject  to  the  heart,  and  will  have  to  render  a  strict  account  at 
the  bar  of  Almighty  God  for  every  neglect  of  duty  towards  them, 
and  for  every  act  and  word  that  may  have  caused  them  to  commit 
suicide.  I  hope  not  one  of  my  readers  will  think  themselves  too 
good  to  take  steps  to  prevent  an  intended  or  an  expected  suicide  or 
to  take  care  of  their  insane,  for  I  assure  you  that  if  you  think  your- 
selves too  good  to  make  use  of  lawful  means  to  save  the  life  of  an 
unfortunate  fellow  being,  you  are  not  good  enough  to  get  to  heaven. 
Remember,  as  above  sta.ted,  that  the  Son  of  God  and  the  good  Sa- 
maritan did  not  think  themselves  too  good  to  heal,  and  have  healed 
such  persons.  I  have  talked  with  some  persons  in  the  course  of  my 
life,  who  advocated  the  doctrine  that  there  was  a  certain  time  and  a 
certain  way  allotted  for  each  and  every  individual  to  die.  If  this  be 
correct,  it  would  go  to  say  that  it  is  no  crime  to  commit  suicide,  and 
that  being  so  qrdained,  his  friends  cannot  prevent  it,  and  the  death, 
in  that  event,  is  not  premature. 

I  hfld  that  a  majority  of  deaths  that  occur  in  the  United  States 
are  premature.  No  death  is  mature  unless  the  subject  sickens  and 
dies  in  pea'ce  on  his  pillow  ;  therefore,  the  man  who  commits  s-uicide, 
dies  before  his 'time,  simply  because  no  friend  has  taken  steps  to 
prevent  the  blow.  I  will  just  ask  those  who  look  upon  it  as  a  dis 
grace  to  take  s.uch  steps,  ( I  hope,  however,  there  are  none,  of  this 
class,)  tf  they  think  it  a  disgrace  for  a  woman  to  nurse  and  suckle 
the  child  she  bears  ?  The  person  who  is  sick  and  insane  is  very 
frequently  in  as  helpless  a  condition  and  as  feeble  in  mind  as  an 
infant,  and  if  it  be  no  disgrace  to  nurse  one,  it  cannot  be  to  take 
care  of  the  other.  »  I  hold  it  to  be  a  credit  to  nourish  both,  and  by 
neglecting  that  duty  towards  persons  of  feeble  mind,  unpleasant 
feelings  arise,  and  the  subject  commits  suicide.  How  easily  could 
this  awful  termination  be  prevented  by  the  prompt  exercise  of  medi- 
cal care ! 

I  have  also  talked  with  .a  few  individuals  who  hold  that  men  are 
perfectly  sane  when  they  commit  suicide,  and  that  they  very  well 
know  what  they  are  doing — committing  the  act  solely  to  wreak 
vengeance  upon  those  who  have  been  accessary  in  bringing  them 
down.  I  admit  that  it  is.  in  some  instances  done  through  a  revenge- 
ful disposition  in  part,  but  I  do  not  admit  that  they  are  sane.  Others 
hold,  that  they  sometimes  commit  suicide  on  account  of  money, 
or  some  former  crime  that  they  have  secretly  committed,  preferring 
death  to  acknowledgment.  These  ideas  are  erroneous.  What  good 
would  all  the  money  in  the  world  do  a  man  after  he  is  dead,  or  why 
should  he  commit  the  act  on  account  of  any  former  crime,  which 
would  make  bad  worse  ?  If  they  were  to  say  that  the  unfortunate 
subject  preferred  death  to  bondage,  tyranny  and  bad  treatrnejQt,  .they 


SUICIDE.  81 

would  come  nearer  the  figure.     There  is,  however,  no  general  rule 
without  some  exceptions. 

When  maniacs  commit  suicide  they  do  it  without  reflection  ;  they 
frequently  throw  themselves  from  a  height,  a  circumstance  which 
proves  that  they  are  led  by  a  blind  impulse  to  the  commission  of  the 
act,  without  premeditation,  by  the  employment  of  means  the  most 
easy  and  accessible.  They  not  unfrequently  find  themselves  walking 
their  floors  with  a  sharp  edged  instrument  in  the  hand,  attempting 
suicide.  At  this  juncture  of  time  they  are  governed  by  a  sudden 
impulse,  either  of  a  beneficial  or  destructive  nature ;  they  are  af- 
fected by  illusions,  imperfect  perception  of  the  relation  of  things, 
and  are  pursued  by  panic  terrors.  They  are  the  sport  of  their  sen- 
sations or  hallucinations,  which  constantly  deceive  them.  One 
wishing  to  descend  from  a  pinnacle — believing  himself  on  a  firm 
basis,  mistakes  his  condition  and  precipitates  himself  into  an 
abyss. 

Esquirol  gives  the  following  striking  views  of  self-murder  in 
maniacs,  which  deserve  much  consideration.  He  says  :  A  maniac, 
impelled  by  hunger,  was  accustomed  to  eat  whatever  came  in  his 
way.  He  died  suddenly,  and  on  examining  the  body  they  found  a 
sponge  which  he  had  devoured,  and  which  rested  in  the  ossophagus. 
Others  destroy  themselves  while  endeavoring  to  perform  feats  of 
strength  and  address.  The  feats  of  a  maniac  are  of  a  peculiar  cha- 
racter. Some  believe  that  by  striking  their  heads  against  a  wall  or 
the  trunk  of  a  tree,  they  experience  relief,  as  do  cattle  with  mad-itch. 
The  writer  has,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  struck  his  head  against 
trees,  walls,  &c.,  vainly  hoping  to  obtain  relief.  I  have  also  found 
myself,  on  various  occasions,  standing  on  the  bank  of  some  river  or 
large  creek,  ready  to  plunge  into  the  murmuring  deep,  and  also  in 
the  woods  with  one  end  qf  a  rope  fastened  to  a  limb  of  a  tree,  and 
the  other  end  around  my  neck.  I  have  again  found  myself  with  the 
muzzle  of  a  gun  placed  under  the  jaw,  with  my  toe  at  the  trigger, 
ready  to  let  the  contents  into  the  head.  In  other  instances  I  have 
found  myself  standing  with  a  drawn  pistol  pointing  to  the  right 
temple  or  to  the  heart,  with  the  forefinger  bearing  on  the  trigger  with 
some  force.  The  checking  powers,  however,  not  having  lost  their 
whole  force,  would  move  up  with  energy  and  disappoint  the  fatal 
intention.  But  finally  the  checking  and  correcting  powers  all  lost 
their  balance,  and  I  nearly  effected  suicide  by  drawing  a  razor  across 
my  throat.  Notwithstanding  all  this,  I  am  yet  permitted  by  an  all- 
wise  God  to  continue  to  breathe,  and  am  improving  gradually  every 
day.  It  is  passing  strange  that  my  life  is  held  so  sacred  and  precious 
in  the  sight  of  Him  who  gave  it — for  what  purpose  He  only  knows — 
but  I  hope  for  a  good  one. 

Esquirol  states  that  maniacs  destroy  themselves  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  disease,  being  driven  to  despair.  This  class  of  patients 
take  their  lives  because  they  have  a  knowledge  of  the  disease  which 
is  commencing,  which  plunges  them  into  despair.  There  are  others 

6 


82  SUICIDE. 

who  destroy  themselves  during  convalescence,  being  rendered  des- 
perate by  the  excesses  they  have  committed  or  ashamed  of  having 
been  insane.  In  many  instances  persons  are  very  much  abashed  to 
acknowledge  themselves  insane.  They  expect  their  friends  to  find 
out  the  fact.  Those  who  are  suffering  from  fever  destroy  themselves 
as  other  maniacs. 

Esquirol  also  justly  remarks  that  every  case  of  monomania  may 
lead  to  self-murder,  whether  the  subject  obeys  his  illusions  or  hallu- 
cinations, or  falls  a  victim  to  a  delirious  passion.  A  monomaniac 
hears  an  internal  voice  which  is  constantly  repeating  "slay  thyself," 
and  he  commits  suicide  in  obedience  to  a  superior  power  whose 
mandate  he  cannot  disobey.  I  maintain,  however,  that  in  such 
cases  self-murder  might  be  prevented  by  the  friends  of  the  unfortu- 
nate subjects  treating  them  as  insane  persons. 

He  states  that  a  man  whose  brain  was  deranged  by  some  obscure 
and  mystified  notions,  believed  that  he  was  in  communication  with 
God.  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  unfortunate  man's  condition,  for  I 
have  imagined  myself  thus  situated  on  a  thousand  occasions,  and 
firmly  believed  that  I  heard  a  celestial  voice  which  caused  me  to 
spring  from  window  to  window  and  from  garret  to  basement,  when 
I  eventually  attempted  suicide,  I  was  lost  in  astonishment  and  won- 
der on  finding  myself  wounded.  It  seemed  as  if  some  mysterious, 
luminous  chariot  was  wafting  me  away  to  heaven.  I  suffered  more 
in  imagination  than  in  reality,  but  perhaps  I  was  insensible  of  the 
extent  of  my  sufferings. 

C  rich  ton  cites  many  cases  as  examples  of  homicidal  suicide,  taken 
from  German  authors,  (among  them  the  following,)  and  remarks 
that  many  of  those  unfortunate  beings  who  constitute  the  subjects 
of  his  observations,  being  unable  to  resolve  to  kill  themselves,  have 
taken  the  lives  of  others,  hoping  thereby  to  be  condemned  to  death. 
Examples  are  given  of  those  who,  during  a  paroxysm  of  jealousy, 
anger  or  revenge,  have  slain  the  objects  of  their  passion  and  then 
themselves.  "  We  had,"  says  Esquirol,  "  at  the  Salpetriere,  a  wo- 
man who  desired  to  hang  herself.  A  brother  having  become  ena- 
mored of  his  own  sister,  on  learning  that  she  was  about  to  be 
married,  stabbed  her,  and  threw  himself  from  the  window.  A  shoe- 
maker, for  ten  years  a  melancholist,  imagined  that  the  purchase 
of  a  house  which  he  had  made  was  the  cause  of  his  misfortune, 
and  during  a  fit  of  despair  he  slew  his  wife  and  three  children,  and 
would  have  slain  the  fourth  had  it  not  escaped  his  rage.  After 
this  horrible  sacrifice  he  laid  open  his  own  abdomen,  but  the 
stroke  not  being  mortal,  he  raised  the  instrument  and  transfixed 
his  heart.  This  man  enjoyed  a  good  reputation,  and  was  of  a  mild 
disposition." 

Thus,  those  wretched  beings  who  destroy  others  before  they  com- 
mit suicide,  obey  those  vehement  passions  which  lead  them  quickly 
to  this  double  homicide.  In  some  instances  they  are  aroused  by 
passions  which  are  slow  in  developing  themselves.  There  are  others 


SUICIDE.  83 

who  murder  the  tenderest  objects  of  their  attachment,  and  then  kill 
themselves,  being  unwilling  to  be  separated  from  them,  and  believ- 
ing that  they  will  be  reunited  after  death.  In  other  instances,  they 
slay  them  in  order  to  preserve  them  from  the  trials  of  life  and  the 
dangers  of  condemnation.  I  will  state  the  case  of  a  female,  under 
good  moral  character,  who  suddenly  became  deranged,  and  was  left 
at  noon-day  at  her  own  residence,  with  an  infant  child  which  she 
had  borne.  On  the  return  of  her  husband,  he  found  his  darling 
infant  slain  by  the  hands  of  its  mother.  She  had  even  gone  so  far 
as  to  cut  up  and  salt  the  poor  child  in  a  churn.  She  imagined  that 
it  was  a  fatted  pig,  and  was  no  doubt  wholly  insensible  of  the  awful 
consequences  of  committing  so  heinous  a  crime.  Protective  mea- 
sures were  adopted  by  her  husband,  and  fortunately,  for  instead  of 
this  case  terminating  in  suicide,  she  measurably  recovered  from  the 
shock,  and  became  tolerably  cheerful,  though  no  doubt  a  remorse 
of  conscience  pursued  her  through  life.  She  was  still  living,  how- 
ever, a  few  years  ago.  as  I  heard  of  her  in  1832  or  '33.  Her  husband 
detected  her  condition,  and  pursued  a  prudent  course  towards  her. 
otherwise  the  poor  frightened  woman  would  have  been  in  a  deplora- 
ble condition. 

Many  monomaniacs  permit  themselves  to  pine  away,  and  refuse 
all  aliments,  believing  that  in  this  way  they  may  be  prepared  to  die 
easily.  The  father  of  the  celebrated  Barthey  allowed  himself  to 
die  of  hunger  at  the  age  of  ninety,  in  despair  at  the  loss  of  his 
second  wife. 

Suicide  is  less  frequent  among  women  than  men  ;  the  exaltation 
of  their  sensibility,  the  transports  of  their  imagination,  the  exagge- 
ration of  their  tenderness  and  their  religious  affections,  produce 
maladies  opposed  to  suicide,  from  which  they  are  still  further  re- 
moved by  the  gentleness  of  their  disposition  and  their  timidity. 
They  suffer  from  the  vapors  and  other  nervous  diseases,  and  become 
insane,  and  when  they  do  take  their  own  lives  it  is  usually  love  or 
lyphmania  that  leads  them  to  the  commission  of  the  act.  I  will 
venture  to  say  that  the  proportion  of  men  to  women  who  commit 
suicide  is  four  to  one. 

Some  authors  speak  of  epidemics  of  suicide  which  have  been 
confined  to  women.  The  appearance  of  an  epidemic  form  of 
suicide  is  most  singular.  Does  it  depend  on  a  latent  condition  of 
the  atmosphere — upon  imitation,  so  powerful  in  its  influence  over 
the  determinations  of  men — upon  those  circumstances  which  pro- 
duce a  revolution  in  a  country — in  fine,  upon  any  governing  senti- 
ment? It  is  evident  that  these  temporary  epidemics  are  the  effects 
of  various  causes,  and  confirm  what  has  been  already  said. 

Esquirol  gives  an  account  of  one  woman  having  hung  herself, 
other  women  felt  themselves  impelled  to  follow  her  example.  Also, 
some  years  since,  in  the  environs  of  Etampes,  a  priest  hung  himself, 
and  in  a  few  days  after  two  others  also  destroyed  themselves-,  and 
some  other  persons  imitated  them. 


84  SUICIDE. 

In  addition,  I  will  here  drop  another  remark  relative  to  my  own 
case.  Upon  the  very  day  of  hearing  of  the  death  of  my  brother  by 
drowning,  (referring,  to  it  in  a  former  page,  and  which  was  the  first 
cause  of  my  insanity,)  I  made  an  attempt  at  self-murder  by  drown- 
ing. I  remember  distinctly  to  have  walked  on  the  banks  of  the 
Big  Bigby  for  a  time,  and  occasionally  stop  stock  still.  I  would 
then  sit  down  for  a  while,  and  rise  fully  determined  in  my  own  mind 
to  plunge  into  the  water  and  put  an  end  to  my  existence.  I  thus 
pondered  upon  the  impropriety  of  making  the  leap  for  at  least  half 
a  day,  making  the  attempt  at  intervals.  Again  :  I  never  heard  of 
a  man  committing  suicide  with  a  razor  or  knife,  or  committing 
.self-murder  in  any  way,  but  what  I  was  imperceptibly  led  to  make 
the  attempt  in  precisely  the  same  manner,  but  I  never  unfolded  this 
to  any  person  living — no,  not  even  to  my  bosom  companion,  until  I 
brought  it  into  action,  which  to  many  persons  may  seem  passing 
strange,  especially  those  who  are  uninformed  upon  the  subjects  of 
insanity,  monomania,  mania  or  suicide ;  but  to  those  who  know 
anything  about  the  disease  it  will  not  be  surprising,  for  I  assure  you, 
as  heretofore  stated,  that  the  man  who  makes  it  notorious  that  he 
intends  to  commit  suicide,  will  never  take  his  life';  it  is  the  very  last 
thing  he  will  do.  He  will  evade  the  subject  whenever  hinted  at,  and 
will  converse  freely  on  any  other  subject  in  preference  to  the  one  in 
contemplation.  Many  other  cases  might  be  referred  to,  but  these 
are  sufficient  to  keep  every  rational  mind  on  the  alert  where  an 
intended  suicide  may  be  suspected. 

As  I  have  given  you  a  piece  of  poetry  at  the  close  of  each  subject 
throughout  the  book,  I  will  here  insert  the  description  of  a  woman 
found  drowned,  which  is  taken  from  a  collection  of  poems  published 
by  Thomas  Hood  : — 


Touch  her  not  scornfully, 
Think  of  her  mournfully 

Gently  and  humanly : 
Not  of  the  stains  of  her 
All  that  remains  of  her 

Now  is  pure  womanly 

Who  was  her  father  ? 
Who  was  her  mother  ? 

Had  she  a  sister  7 
Had  she  a  brother  ? 
Was  there  a  dearer  one 
Still — and  a  nearer  one 

Yet  than  all  other? 

Alas  for  the  rarity 
Of  Christian  charity 

Under  the  sun ! 
Oh  !  it  was  pitiful — 
Near  a  whole  city  full, 

Home  she  had  none. 


SUICIDE. 

Where  the  lamps  quivei 
So  far  in  the  river, 

With  many  a  light 
From  window  and  casement 
To  garret,  to  basement, 
She  stood  with  amazement ! 

Houseless  by  night. 

The  bleak  wind  of  March 
Made  her  tremble  and  shiver, 

But  not  the  dark  arch, 
Or  the  black  flowing  river. 
Mad  from  life's  history, 
Glad  to  death's  mystery 

Swift  to  be  hurled, 
Any  where — any  where — 

Out  of  the  world. 

In  she  plunged  boldly, 
No  matter  how  coldly 

The  rough  river  ran. 
Over  the  brink  of  it — 
Picture  it,  think  of  it, 

Dissolute  man ! 
Lave  in  it,  drink  of  it 

Then  if  you  can. 


THE  POSSIBILITY  OF  APOSTACY. 


IN  the  different  religious  denominations  various  and  different  creeds 
and  doctrines  of  faith  are  held  on  the  possibility  and  impossibility 
of  apostacy.  I  hope  it  will  be  no  intrusion  upon  the  readers  of  this 
book  for  me  to  give  my  views  in  a  short  and  comprehensive  manner 
on  this  subject,  as  I  conceive  that  the  subjects  of  insanity  and  reli- 
gion are  closely  allied;  and  as  this  subject  is  intended  for  the  closing 
of  the  book,  and  stands  entirely  separate  from  the  others  as  regards 
its  place  in  the  book,  it  cannot  possibly  clash  with  the  subject  of 
insanity,  but,  in  all  probability,  will  throw  some  new  light  upon  that 
and  some  other  subjects  herein  contained. 

I  would  advise  all  ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  refrain  from  preach- 
ing up  the  doctrine  of  election  and  reprobation  in  its  broad  and 
harsh  terms — that  God  fore-decreed  and  fore-ordained  all  things 
whatsoever  cometh  to  pass,  and  that  man  cannot  prevent  it.  I  con- 
ceive it  to  be  a  dangerous  doctrine  to  preach  to  a  young  and  rising 
generation.  If  he  thus  decrees,  he  must  be  the  author  of  sin. 
Would  any  man  in  the  present  enlightened  age  of  the  world  say 
that  God  decreed  that  a  midnight  assassin  should  wilfully,  with 
malice  aforethought,  plunge  a  dagger  to  the  heart  of  his  fellow-man 
and  usher  him  into  the  presence  of  the  judge  of  all  the  earth?  If 
so,  you  would  charge  him  with  the  murder  ;  for  if  he  has  decreed 
thus,  the  act  could  not  be  prevented.  Or  would  you  pretend  to 
charge  your  Creator  with  having  decreed  that  you  should  drive 
your  insane  or  idiots  from  your  fire-side  conversations,  and  knock 
and  cuff  them  about  as  if  they  were  dumb  brutes,- or  build  a  pen  for 
them,  and  throw  an  ear  of  corn  to  them  as  you  would  to  a  hog,  or  a 
chunk  of  meat  and  bread,  as  you  would  feed  a  dog,  or  as  if  they 
had  neither  a  soul  to  be  saved  or  lost.  It  is  a  nice  way  to  heal.  It 
only  sinks  the  poor  unfortunate  soul  into  a  further  state  of  despera- 
tion. God  decrees  no  such  things,  and  the  man  who  stands  up  in 
the  face  of  authority  and  charges  him  thus,  charges  him  falsely, 

86 


APOSTACY.  87 

and  will  have  to  render  a  strict  account  in  the  last  and  final  day  for 
advancing  such  erroneous  ideas ;  and  the  man  that  would  treat  the 
insane  or  idiot  thus,  should  be  hung  upon  a  gallows  or  burnt  at  a 
stake. 

If  he  decrees  any  thing,  it  is  that  you  whom  he  blesses  with  the 
power  of  thinking  for  and  taking  care  of  yourselves,  should  take  care 
of  your  insane  and  idiots,  and  if  you  live  in  that  neglect  you  break 
his  decrees  and  receive  to  yourselves  the  greater  damnation.  You 
cannot  find  a  passage  of  Scripture  within  the  lids  of  the  Bible,  from 
the  beginning  of  Genesis  to  the  end  of  the  Revelations,  wherein 
you  are  authorized  to  cheat  and  defraud,  abuse  and  maltreat  any 
man,  much  less  the  insane  and  idiot ;  but  you  can  find  where  you 
are  commanded  to  heal,  teach,  feed,  and  clothe  them.  What  do 
your  Bibles  teach  you  to  do  with  the  halt  and  the  maimed,  and 
those  that  are  diseased  either  in  body  or  mind,  let  the  disease  be  of 
whatever  character  it  may  ?  Read  it,  and  you  will  learn.  Remem- 
ber, it  is  the  book  of  all  books. 

I  maintain  that  a  soul  may  be  born  of  the  spirit  of  the  living  God, 
by  the  efficacy  of  the  blood  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  being  applied  to 
his  heart,  and  have  a  bright,  manifestation  of  his  acceptance  with  the 
Father,  and  backslide  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  yet  become  re- 
claimed and  healed  of  his  backslidings,  purged  of  his  old  sins,  and 
received  into  the  favor  of  God  again.  But  if  he  entirely  apostatises 
and  denies  his  Lord,  Judas  like,  it  is  impossible  to  renew  him  unto 
repentance  again,  seeing  he  has  crucified  his  Lord  afresh,  and  put 
him  to  an  open  shame.  It  would  have  been  better  for  him  that  he 
had  never  known  the  way,  than,  after  he  has  known  it,  to  depart 
from  it ;  and  he  stands  exposed  to  a  heavier  curse  from  the  wrath  of 
a  sin-avenging  God,  than  the  sinner  who  has  never  been  converted. 

I  do  not  hold  that  a  man  may  embrace  religion  to-day  and  lose  it 
to-morrow,  but  that  he  may  gradually  diminish  in  his  religious 
duties  until  it  will  even  become  a  burthen  to  him  to  repeat  th  '  Lord's 
prayer.  Let  him  that  thinketh  he  stands,  take  heed  lest  he  fall ; 
and  if  you  should  fall  into  the  pit  from  this  high  station,  once  hav- 
ing been  in  the  favor  of  God,  living  under  his  kind  protection  and 
chastening  rod,  mark  ye,  it  will  be  hard  work  to  get  out  of  it  again 
and  become  initiated  into  the  favor  of  God. 

Suppose  you  plant  a  vineyard  and  sit  down  and  say  to  yourself, 
"  I  have  planted  my  vineyard  and  anticipate  a  fine  lot,  of  fruit,"  and 
never  cultivate  it,  but  suffer  it  to  be  trodden  under  foot  by  the  beasts 
of  the  forest,  do  you  suppose  that  you  would  ever  gather  any  fruit 
from  the  vines?  It  would  be  folly  to  arrive  at  such  a  conclusion. 
You  would  be  most  likely  to  gather  thorns  and  thistles  instead  of 
grapes.  But  if  you  will  prune  and  cultivate  your  vineyard,  God 
will  send  rain  in  due  season  to  refresh  the  growth  of  the  vines,  and 
in  gathering  season  you  will  be  able  to  gather  bountifully  of  the  fruit 
of,  and  may  have  twelve  baskets  left  to  carry  up. 

Just  so  in  a  religious  point  of  view.     God  in  his  goodness  sows 

6 


88  APOSTACY. 

the  good  seed  of  grace  in  your  hearts,  and  if  you  go  back  into  the 
world  and  return  to  the  vomit  or  wallow  in  the  mire,  the  good  seed 
of  grace  will  be  choked  by  the  thorns,  devoured  by  the  fowls  of  the 
air,  or  parched  up  by  the  rays  of  the  sun,  and  the  good  seed  of  grace 
will  die  in  your  hearts  and  you  will  go  with  the  uncultivated  vine- 
yard. But  if  you  cultivate  this  good  seed  of  grace  sown  in  your 
hearts,  according  to  the  terms  laid  down  in  the  book  of  God,  he 
will  replenish  the  growth  of  the  seed,  and  it  will  spring  up  and 
bring  some  sixty,  some  ninety  and  some  a  hundred  fold,  and  you 
will  be  as  a  city  set  on  a  hill,  giving  a  brilliant  light  to  all  around 
you,  and  you  will  rank  witli  the  cultivated  vineyard. 

Again  :  If  you  plant  a  field  of  corn  and  sit  down  and  do  not  cul- 
tivate it,  would  you  expect  that  the  Son  of  God  would  descend  and 
cultivate  your  crop  for  you  ?  or  would  you  not  expect  to  have  empty 
barns  during  the  winter,  and  your  stock  to  perish  for  the  want  of 
food  and  with  cold  ?  But  if  you  would  cultivate  your  crop  well, 
you  might  expect  in  gathering  time  to  have  your  barns  and  garners 
filled  to  overflowing  with  grain  arid  provender. 

Just  so  in  a  religious  point  of  view.  It  is  just  as  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  Son  of  God  would  descend  and  cultivate  and  prune 
your  vineyard,  and  plow  your  corn,  as  it  is  to  suppose  that  he 
would  descend  personally  and  feed,  clothe  and  heal  your  insane  and 
idiots.  He  descends  in  spirit,  and  blesses  the  means  which  he 
may  place  in  your  hands  by  which  you  might  heal  if  properly  ad- 
ministered. 

Again  :  Suppose  you  were  to  set  out  to  go  from  this  to  the  city  of 
Washington,  and  when  you  reach  Wheeling,  Va.,  face  to  the  left 
about  and  come  back  to  the  city  of  Nashville.  Do  you  suppose  you 
would  ever  reach  Washington  in  that  way  ?  But  when  at  Wheeling, 
if  you  would  face  to  the  right  about  and  pursue  your  journey,  you 
would  soon  arrive  at  your  place  of  destination. 

Just  so  in  a  religious  point  of  view.  If  you  set  out  to  live  a  reli- 
gious life  and  run  well  for  a  while  until  you  reach  the  prime  of  life, 
and  get  in  sight  of  Paradise  or  the  promised  land,  living  under  the 
protection  of  a  divine  hand,  and  receiving  from  it  daily  spiritual  and 
temporal  blessings,  and  reaching  this  point,  face  about  and  go  back 
into  the  service  of  the  devil,  do  you  suppose  you  would  ever  reach 
heaven,  or  enter  into  the  city  of  God?  If  you  do,  you  are  very  much 
mistaken.  But  when  you  get  in  sight  of  Paradise,  or  the  promised 
land,  if  you  would  face  to  the  right  about,  and  pursue  your  journey, 
according  to  the  terms  laid  down  in  the  holy  will  of  the  Son  of  God, 
you,  through  the  mercy  and  goodness  of  God,  would  reach  the 
heavenly  city,  and  enter  into  the  joys  of  thy  Lord  ;  and  as  corrup- 
tion puts  on  incorruption  in  the  conversion  of  the  soul,  and  remains 
during  this  spiritual  journey  through  the  variegated  changes  and 
scenes  of  life,  it  remains  in  this  state  of  incorruption  and  mortality 
combined.  Notwithstanding  you  may  be  in  a  state  of  incorruption, 
you  are  still  mortal  beings — possessing  mortal  bodies  and  human 


APOSTACY.  89 

nature ;  and  if  you  live  faithful  to  your  Creator  in  the  discharge  of 
your  different  duties  towards  him,  you  will  enjoy  the  peace  and 
sunshine  showered  upon  your  outgoings  and  incomings  by  a  kind 
protecting  hand  ;  and  in  the  trying  and  final  hour  mortality  puts  on 
immortality,  and  the  soul  takes  its  heavenly  flight,  borne  up  by  the 
power  of  God,  and  will  be  received  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  where, 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  it  will  forevermore  bask  in  unfading 
felicity.  But  take  heed,  while  you  are  in  this  state  of  incorruption 
and  mortality  combined,  lest  you  slip  back  into  a  state  of  corrup- 
tion, and  be  ranked  with  the  five  foolish  virgins,  and  be  found  with- 
out oil  in  your  lamps,  when  you  come  to  stand  before  the  bridegroom 
of  the  supper  of  the  Lamb,  and  be  cast  into  the  pit  of  darkness, 
where  weeping  and  wailing  will  never  cease.  May  my  readers 
always  have  oil,  and  their  lamps  well  trimmed,  that  they  may  be 
classed  with  the  five  wise  virgins,  and  permitted  to  partake  of  the 
supper  of  the  Lamb. 

As  it  regards  election  and  reprobation,  you  are  elected  or  repro- 
bated in  the  hour  and  article  of  death,  according  to  the  manner  of 
your  conduct  through  life.  Do  not  understand  me  to  say  that  man 
of  himself,  short  of  the  goodness  of  God,  can  make  his  election  ;  but 
by  living  in  the  discharge  of  the  different  duties  enjoined  ,upon  him, 
as  laid  down  in  the  book  of  God,  he  makes  his  calling  and  election 
sure. 

Suppose  two  men  become  candidates  for  an  office  of  profit  or 
honor,  and  one,  by  his  good  conduct,  gains  the  confidence  of  the  peo- 
ple, you  cast  your  vote  in  favor  of  the  man  of  good  conduct — there- 
fore his  election  is  secured  to  him  for  his  good  conduct.  But 
the  other,  by  his  misconduct,  loses  the  confidence  of  the  people  and 
thereby  loses  his  election.  Just  so,  by  your  good  or  bad  conduct, 
you  secure  to  yourselves  your  election  in  the  favor  of  God,  or  make 
your  reprobation  and  lose  your  election  in  the  favor  of  Him.  James 
says,  "Show  me  thy  faith  without  thy  works,  and  I  will  show  thee 
my  faith  by  my  works. ;'  Still,  after  we  have  done  all,  we  are  no- 
thing but  unprofitable  servants.  Remember  Lot's  wife  looked  back 
at  the  destruction  of  Sodom  and  turned  to  a  pillar  of  salt.  I  would 
advise  all  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  when  they  undertake  to  preach 
the  word  of  the  Son  of  God,  to  arise,  take  their  texts  and  stick  to 
them,  preach  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  according  to  the  light  thrown 
upon  the  subject,  personate  no  man,  and  when  they  get  through,  to 
be  very  certain  that  they  quit.  For  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  who 
stands  between  the  living  and  the  dead,  to  arise  and  take  his  text  and 
preach  until  he  is  about  half  through  his  discourse  ;  and  then  quit 
the  subject  and  begin  to  personate  his  congregation,  and  say,  "  You, 
sir,  and  you,  sir,  have  got  to  go  to  the  devil,  and  the  balance,  or  a 
few  of  the  chosen  of  us,  have  got  to  go  to  heaven  in  a  hand-basket," 
is  only  making  a  mock  of  the  ministry,  and  very  frequently  makes 
bad  impressions  on  the  minds  of  his  audience. 

I  would  advise  medical  men,  when  they  undertake  to  heal  their 


90  APOSTACY. 

patients,  to  be  very  certain  that  they  do  heal.  You  may  heal  a  man, 
and  you  may  heal  at  him.  A  real  medical  man  can  heal,  and  a 
quack  can  heal  at  his  patient.  If  a  man  be  taken  suddenly  sick  and 
sends  for  you,  he  is  considered  your  patient  until  he  gets  well,  dies, 
or  orders  you  to  stop  your  visits.  If  you  do  not  intend  to  treat  him 
as  your  patient,  I  would  advise  you  not  to  pay  him  the  first  visit. 
Thus  he  would  know  what  to  depend  upon,  and  his  friends  would 
procure  other  medical  aid.  Never  neglect  your  patients,  for  many 
a  life  is  lost  for  want  of  proper  attention,  and  the  blame  must  attach 
to  the  physician.  Medical  men  are  instruments  in  the  hands  of  God 
to  heal,  or  instruments  in  the  hands  of  the  devil  to  hurry  them  into 
eternity.  I  have  paid  doctors  several  hundred  dollars  in  the  course 
of  my  life  to  be  healed,  but  they  invariably  pursued  a  rigid  course, 
and  always  left  me  in  a  worse  condition  than  they  found  me  ;  hence 
they  'destroyed  my  constitution  and  mental  faculties. 

I  hope  the  reader  will  not  conceive,  in  my  remarks  in  a  former 
page,  where  I  held  that  baptism  by  immersion  to  be  the  only  true 
mode,  that  I  intended  to  convey  the  idea  that  it  was  regeneration, 
or  even  running  before  or  with  regeneration,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
regeneration  should  run  before  baptism.  You  may  plunge  a  man  to 
the  bottom  of  Cumberland  river,  or  pour  all  the  water  in  the  river 
upon  him,  and  if  he  is  not  born  of  the  spirit  of  the  living  God  by 
the  efficacy  of  the  blood  of  his  Son  being  applied  to  his  heart,  it  will 
never  save  him.  As  before  stated,  baptism  is  not  the  putting  away 
of  the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience.  I 
hope  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  medical  gentlemen  will  not 
consider  that  I  have  been  personal  in  my  remarks  either  to  them- 
selves or  churches,  for  my  intentions  are  far  from  causing  any  ill- 
feelings. 

There  was  a  certain  rich  man  who  fared  sumptuously  every  day 
— poor  Lazarus  lay  at  his  gate  and  begged  the  crumbs  that  fell 
from  his  table.  Lazarus  died  and  was  received  into  Abraham's 
bosom.  The  rich  man  died  also,  and  lifted  up  his  eyes  in  hell 
and  saw  Lazarus  afar  off,  and  prayed  to  Abraham  to  let  Laza- 
rus dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in  water  and  cool  his  parched  tongue ; 
but  there  was  a  great  gulf  fixed  between,  so  that  no  man  could 
pass.  He  then  prayed  that  Abraham  would  send  him  back, 
that  he  might  warn  his  five  brethren  not  to  come  to  that  awful 
place  of  torments.  "  Not  so,"  said  Abraham.  "  They  have 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  if  they  will  not  believe  them,  they 
would  not  believe  even  if  one  was  to  rise  from  the  dead."  The 
writer  of  this  has  been  raised  from  the  dead  ;  will  you  read  and 
believe  him  or  not? 

Perhaps  some  gentlemen,  to  look  and  show  smart,  have  written 
some  scurrilous  pieces  and  put  them  in  print  about  me;  if  so.  I 
will  answer  them  by  placing  them  in  their  arithmetic,  in  the  rules 
of  Loss  and  Gain,  as  all  men  who  place  their  names  in  public 
print  either  lose  or  gain  laurels.  I  will  ask  them  to  count  up  the 


APOSTACY.  91 

cost  and  see  if  they  can  tell  how  many  laurels  they  have  lost  or 
gained,  as  it  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  gentlemen  could 
possibly  gain  any  laurels  by  becoming  the  defamers  of,  or  the  de- 
claimers  against  insanity.  I  have  seen  some  smattering  eloquence, 
the  writers  of  which,  I  suppose,  allude  to  me.  First  take  the  beam 
from  thine  own  eye,  and  then  thou  canst  see  clearly  how  to  take 
the  mote  out  of  the  eyes  of  the  insane.  Thus  they  might  see  how 
to  get  upon  the  right  side  of  the  fence,  upon  the  most  important 
subject  in  the  world. 

I  noticed  in  some  of  the  scurrilous  pieces  above  alluded  to,  (the 
writer  of  which  I  suppose  alludes  to  me,  though  if  mistaken  I  ever 
stand  ready  for  correction,)  that  some  one  of  the  authors  charge  me 
with  having  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  houses  of  ill-fame.  In 
answer  to  that,  and  in  defence  of  the  character  of  my  orphan  chil- 
dren, or  others  of  my  friends  whom  it  may  concern,  I  will  defy  any 
man  living  to  produce  the  proof,  from  a  respectable  source,  that  I 
have  ever  had  a  child,  living  or  dead,  except  those  born  of  my  own 
wife,  with  whom  I  was  lawfully  married  on  the  29th  day  of  June, 
1826,  in  Maury  county,  Tennessee.  I  never  was  a  visitor  of  houses 
of  ill-fame  during  the  whole  course  of  my  life,  except  in  one  in- 
stance, and  then  I  was  forced  in  by  violence  by  a  couple  of  pretended 
friend?,  some  time  in  1835,  in  the  city  of  Nashville.  Neither  was 
I  ever  guilty  of  murder,  except  an  attempt  at  self-murder,  while  in 
a  state  of  insanity.  Neither  was  I  ever  guilty  of  theft,  unless 
failing  to  meet  my  contracts  be  theft,  and  if  that  is  considered  theft, 
a  great  many  very  honest  men  are  thieves.  On  the  contrary,  as 
was  the  case  with  the  young  man  that  went  down  to  Jericho,  I 
have  been  cheated  out  of  the  last  dollar  I  had  in  the  world  on  several 
occasions,  and  defrauded  of  means  in  various  ways  by  unjust  and 
unfair  measures,  when  I  was  sick  and  insane,  enough  to  make  any 
of  my  readers  independent.  At  a  time  when  I  did  not  know  the 
value  of  one  dollar,  they  parted  my  raiment  and  cast  lots  for  my 
vesture. 

I  see  another  writer  charges  me  with  having  shipped  twenty  mil- 
lions of  souls  to  Jamaica,  and  thus  betrayed  my  country.  I  never 
shipped  a  soul  to  Jamaica  or  any  other  government  in  my  life  ;  nor 
was  I  ever  beyond  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  either  in  person  or 
correspondence.  It  would  be  a  strange  phenomena  in  a  man's  life 
if  he  could  do  all  these  things  and  be  in  his  own  country  all  the 
time. 

I  have  been  told  that  other  writers  have  asserted  that  it  was  me 
who  brought  the  cholera  from  another  country  to  this,  which  is 
erroneous,  and  would  be  equally  strange  to  even  suppose  that  a 
man  could  bring  the  cholera  from  France  to  this  country  when  the 
wide  ocean  is  between  the  two  governments,  and  the  man  never  out 
of  the  United  States.  I  will  leave  their  broad  and  unfounded  asser- 
tions and  problems  for  themselves  to  solve.  The  very  face  of  their 
assertions  bears  the  color  of  falsehood. 


92  APOSTACY. 

I  never  was  an  abolitionist  in  principle  or  a  member  of  an  ab- 
olition society.  It  is  passing  strange  that  a  few  designing  indi- 
viduals, reckless  of  the  welfare  of  the  unfortunate,  should  select  me 
from  the  insane  portion  of  the  human  family  to  make  their  thrusts 
and  pass  their  darts  at  in  preference  to  all  others,  when  it  is  a  fact 
that  the  more  refined,  high  minded  and  honorable  part  of  the  com- 
munity are  disposed  to  sympathise  at  my  misfortunes. 

I  did  not  intend  to  notice  these  scurrilous  pieces  or  their  authors 
in  this  book,  but  I  give  this  short  sketch  in  defence  of  the  character 
of  my  children,  and  will  write  no  more  on  this  subject  unless  I  see 
more  charges  from  their  pens. 

As  I  offered  a  reward  of  five  hundred  dollars  during  my  life  for 
any  man  to  detect  my  condition,  and  act  upon  it  as  they  should  do 
in  cases  of  insanity,  I  will  now  offer  a  reward  of  one  hundred  dollars 
for  a  work  upon  any  subject  not  herein  contained,  to  surpass  all 
these  subjects  combined,  from  the  pen  of  any  man  that  is  precisely 
in  my  condition,  without  the  aid  of  any  second  person.  The  balance 
of  this  year  will  be  allowed  for  the  production,  to  be  adjudged  of  by 
a  committee  of  respectable  and  talented  gentlemen,  to  be  selected 
by  the  parties  from  among  the  citizens  of  Nashville.  It  must  be 
original,  as  is  this,  and  accompanied  with  proof  of  the  fact  from  a 
respectable  source. 


YOUTH  AND  FUTURE  LIFE. 


CHARMED  by  the  voice  of  fame,  and  allured  by  the  hope  of 
wealth,  the  youth  forsakes  the  parental  roof  in  quest  of  the  happiness 
and  honors  of  time  things,  which  are  perishing  in  their  nature.  His 
first  grand  object  is  to  seek  one  among  the  fair  offspring  of  the  land 
to  cheer  and  buoy  him  above  the  sordid  cares  of  time.  His  eyes 
are  fixed  upon  one  whose  faultless  form  and  airy  step  is  altogether 
lovely  ;  he  enters  upon  the  stage  of  a  hymenial  life  with  her  ;  she 
immediately  becomes  a  minister  of  mercy  to  direct  and  lead  him  to 
realms  of  unfading  felicity,  or  an  enchanting  companion  on  the  road 
to  perdition.  May  every  female  reader  of  this  book  be  a  minister  of 
mercy — I  hope  not  one  of  them  will  be  an  enchanting  companion. 
They  live  thus  together,  sharing  each  other's  joys,  as  the  brilliance 
of  the  meridian  sun,  or  the  ills,  sordid  cares,  enchantments  and  al- 
lurements of  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  until  the  messenger 
of  death  demands  his  terrific  claims,  and  she  is  swept  from  his  em- 
braces. He  gives  way  to  that  peevishness  which  is  too  often  attend- 
ant upon  grey  hairs ;  the  world  begins  to  wear  a  sallow  hue  ;  every 
thing  seems  changed,  save  some  favorite  child,  on  whom  is  fixed  all 
his  love,  until  he  pays  the  last  debt  of  nature,  and  enters  into 
another  and  better,  or  worse  existence.  The  immortal  part  will  then 
stand  before  the  judge  of  all  the  earth,  to  share  a  portion  of  her 
sufferings  in  endless  pain  and  woe,  wrought  up  by  the  ills  of  this  life, 
or  enjoy  with  her  the  fruits  of  their  labors  gained  by  a  godly  course 
and  pious  conversation.  They  meet  the  offspring  of  their  bodies  in 
the  haven  of  repose  and  eternal  bliss,  and  each  shall  receive  a  bright 
crown  of  never  fading  glory.  He  can  then  say,  as  one  of  old,  "  I 
have  fought  a  good  fight — I  have  kept  the  faith — I  have  finished 
my  course  ;  henceforth  there  is  a  crown  laid  up  for  me,  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  will  give  me  on 
that  day,  and  not  unto  me  only,  but  unto  all  those  that  love  his  ap- 
pearing." His  dying  couch  will  be  surrounded  by  friends,  and  h 

93 


94  YOUTH  AND  FUTURE  LIFE. 

will  bid  farewell  to  all  time  things,  imploring  the  mercies  of  a  bene- 
ficent Creator  to  rest  upon  their  heads ;  bright  seraphs  will  conduct 
him  through  cold  Jordan's  icy  arms  to  join  the  patriarchs,  elders, 
and  the  hosts  of  heaven,  and  seat  him  at  the  feet  of  his  Redeemer, 
where  he  will  pluck  the  ambrosial  fruits  prepared  for  him  by  the 
Father  of  us  all. 

The  blessed  of  the  Lord  will  patiently  await  their  final  doom, 
until  the  sounding  of  the  last  loud  trump,  when  the  archangel  Ga- 
briel shall  descend  and  place  one  foot  upon  sea  and  the  other  upon 
land,  and  proclaim  that  time  shall  be  no  more ;  when  the  seas, 
mountains  and  dales,  will  be  in  one  general  conflagration,  and  be 
consumed  as  the  drop  of  potter's  clay  or  the  crater  of  the  volcano. 
The  dead  in  Christ  will  be  first  aroused  from  their  mouldering  urns, 
mortality  will  put  on  immortality,  and  outstrip  in  their  heavenly 
flight  the  tornado  of  heated  flames,  and  fly  through  the  trackless 
air  to  that  home  where  pain  and  trouble  never  comes,  there  to  put 
on  white  and  spotless  robes,  receive  a  crown  and  golden  harp,  drink 
of  the  water  of  life,  and  shout  victory  and  praises  to  the  Redeemer 
through  endless  ages. 

Walk  with  me,  if  you  please,  on  board  the  old  ship  of  Zion — her 
sails  unfurled  ;  her  banners  hoisted  high  ;  her  flag  of  peace  inviting 
passengers  to  embark ;  the  grace  of  God  her  mariner ;  and  Jesus 
Christ  her  chief  captain,  to  lead  each  passenger  and  way-worn 
traveller,  through  the  merits  of  the  blood  of  a  crucified  Redeemer, 
to  her  port  of  destination,  Heaven.  Who  would  not  seek  a  passage 
on  this  great  ship  ?  If  you  have  not  obtained  permission  from  the 
great  captain  of  the  vessel  for  a  voyage,  this  is  the  very  day  to  make 
application,  lest  a  passport  might  be  refused  in  future.  The  doors 
of  the  ship  stand  wide  open,  and  the  captain  is  reaching  out  his 
hand  to  invite  and  conduct  you  safe  to  the  gates  of  Heaven.  Read 
the  holy  will  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  you  will  find  in  plain  terms 
how,  where,  and  to  whom  to  make  application,  what  door  to  knock 
at  for  admittance,  a  description  of  Heaven  and  the  terms  of  admit- 
tance through  the  gates, — which  is  without  money  and  without 
price, — the  sum  having  been  paid  in  advance  more  than  eigteen 
hundred  years  ago  on  Mount  Calvary. 

The  summer  breeze  was  sighing  my  auburn  locks  among, 

Pale  was  my  cheek  and  hollow,  where  traces  deep  were  drawn, 

Whilst  near  a  harp  was  lying,  neglected  and  unstrung, 
Of  some  mysterious  sorrow  that  wasted  life's  fresh  mom. 

How  shall  I  know  thee  in  the  sphere  which  keeps 

The  disembodied  spirits  of  the  dead, 
When  all  of  thee  that  time  could  wither  sleeps 

And  perishes  among  the  dust  we  tread  ? 

For  I  shall  feel  the  sting  of  ceaseless  pain, 

If  there  I  meet  thy  gentle  presence  not, 
Nor  hear  the  voice  I  love,  nor  read  again 

In  thy  serenest  eyes  the  tender  thought 


YOUTH  AND  FUTURE  LIFE.  95 


Will  not  thy  own  meek  heart  demand  me  there — 
That  heart  whose  fondest  throbs  to  me  were  given  7 

My  name  on  earth  was  ever  in  thy  prayer, 

Shall  it  be  banished  from  thy  tongue  in  heaven  ? 

In  meadows  fanned  by  heaven's  life-breathing  wind, 

In  the  resplendence  of  that  glorious  sphere, 
And  larger  movements  of  the  unfettered  mind, 
1  Wilt  thou  forget  the  love  that  joined  Us  here  T 

The  love  that  lived  through  all  the  stormy  past, 
And  meekly  with  my  harsher  nature  bore, 

And  deeper  grew  and  tenderer  to  the  last, 
Shall  it  expire  with  life  and  be  no  more  ? 

A  happier  lot  than  mine  and  larger  light 

Await  thee  there — for  thou  hast  bound  thy  will 

In  cheerful  homage  to  the  rules  of  right, 
And  lovest  all  and  renderest  good  for  ill. 

For  me,  the  sordid  cares  in  which  I  dwell, 

Shrink  and  consume  the  heart  as  heat  the  scroll, 

And  wrath  hath  left  its  scar :  that  fire  of  hell 
Hath  left  its  frightful  scar  upon  my  soul. 

Yet  though  thou  wear'st  the  glory  of  the  sky, 

Wilt  thou  not  keep  the  same  beloved  name — 
The  same  fair,  thoughtful  brow,  and  gentle  eye, 
>  Lovelier  in  Heaven's  sweet  climate,  but  the  same  T 

Shalt  thou  not  teach  me  in  that  calmer  home, 

The  wisdom  that  I  learned  so  ill  in  this — 
The  wisdom  which  is  love — till  I  become 

Thy  fit  companion  in  that  land  of  bliss  ? 

And  were  wistful  glances  cast  towards  my  wooing  lyre, 
I  might  not  check  its  lurings,  but  seize  my  harp  again, 

And  half  suppressed,  advance,  as  stirred  the  poet's  fire, 
And  quick  to  numbers  tuning,  awake  its  mournful  strain. 


CONCLUSION. 


IN  conclusion,  I  must,  in  justice  to  my  old  and  faithful  friend, 
the  Editor  of  the  Nashville  Union,  and  also  to  the  Publisher,  re- 
turn my  heartfelt  thanks  for  the  liberality  extended  to  me  in  my 
present  pecuniary  embarrassed  condition.  They  have  been  my 
unwavering  friends  in  aiding  me  to  get  my  work  before  the  public. 

I  trust  that  a  close  adherence  to  the  precepts  herein  laid  down 
will  be  the  means  of  saving  the  lives  of  millions  of  my  fellow- 
beings  who  now  are  and  may  become  mentally  deranged.  As  five 
thousand  souls  were  once  fed  with  two  fishes  and  five  loaves  of 
bread,  I  fondly  hope  that  the  proceeds  of  this  work  will  feed  my  five 
orphan  children.  As  I  have  no  two-penny  loaves  and  fishes  to  pre 
dicate  the  publication  on,  I  am  much  gratified  to  find  my  eld  friends, 
with  whom  I  have  been  intimate  from  my  boyhood,  marching  for- 
ward without  hesitation,  in  one  solid  phalanx,  to  aid  me  in  the  sale 
of  my  work,  which  I  have  completed  under  circumstances  of  a 
peculiar  character. 

The  travelling  preachers  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
throughout  the  United  States  are  requested  to  act  as  agents  in  their 
respective  circuits.  Their  orders  will  be  promptly  filled  and  liberal 
commissions  allowed  them  for  services. 

There  is,  perhaps,  nothing  short  of  the  goodness  of  God  that  can 
effect  a  final  cure  of  my  disease.  I  am  perfectly  resigned  to  His 
will,  and  await  his  final  coming  and  decision  with  hope.  Soliciting 
an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  the  followers  of  the  Son  of  God,  I  bid 
my  readers  an  affectionate  adieu. 


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UTHOMOVJNT 
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